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Virgil was officially over this work lesson and really, who was he to be chosen to fix the future?? He was just an intern. He had fucked it up already by pissing off the corrupt king of Alba Longa and getting all sorts of unwanted attention on himself. So Logan should really come and get him right now. He wasn’t coming out, lest they find him–
“Oh!! Master Virgil, what are…how exactly did you manage to get stuck in there, kiddo??”
“He’s hardly stuck, Patton. He's hiding from his mess, like the coward omen-bringer he is.”
Virgil glared up and tried to retain his dignity from the bottom of a grain basket. It was the only one that would fit him inside the grainhouse, where he’d thought he would not be discovered until evening.
Praetor Janus– the rightful ruler of Alba Longa, soon to be reinstated– was staring down at him with an entirely unimpressed look. “Come on, boy, you’ve brought this mess entirely upon yourself. I told you to leave well enough alone, but did you listen?”
“Well forgive me for trying to save civilization itself! A lot hinges on your nephews, but I didn’t sign up to be in the middle of their new fight!”
“Yes, I have already heard your story enough, future child. Get out of there. You should not have been quite so passionate, then. And you did not have to go and make them both fight over you to fulfill your goals.”
Virgil slowly got up, and Pattonias smiled politely, brushing the stray wheat hairs from his purple chlamys. “You shouldn’t get this dirty…Master Roman would be beside himself.”
Virgil knew Patton was just joking, mostly, but there was some truth to that. These were only borrowed clothes…from a man who was vying for his attention. Gifts of clothes and fruit baskets, and extravagant meals...flowers and poems dedicated to him, all from both twins, were now filling his guest room in that home. He needed to just get away from it for a while. He couldn't begin to pick between them, and it wasn't as if he'd stay here if he did.
...so long as his mission was a success and Logan would be able to then retrieve him. But he'd only been sent away with the hopes of repairing this anomalous intervention that by Logan's research, was the epicenter that had thrown all of history astray. As for who had done this in the first place...it wasn't someone that had been supposed to be here. But Virgil didn't think they were still here anymore, or they'd surely have noticed and approached him by now, as he was also reading as an anomaly to anyone with the proper tech.
“Do they know where I am?”
“Not yet, Virgil, and that’s only a matter of time since they have servants that will report to them about spotting you. But you need to consider what you will be doing about keeping them from killing one another over you instead.”
Virgil groaned, feeling a little ill at the thought. “Don’t you think I’m trying?? I don’t want this! I just…! I-I just didn’t want them to kill each other!”
Virgil grimaced. The future of civilization was at stake, and he couldn’t go home until he fixed this. His friends…he only had one chance to save them. And the crux of it all? Two brothers’ epic rivalry turned terminal. Roman had no idea he would one day kill his own brother…while founding one of the most successful, long-living empires in history, rivaling that of any other in terms of its stability. If he failed to help them both survive this feud, humanity as they knew it would not last beyond 4045.
Virgil might be the cause of it, now. Overwhelmed tears welled, and Patton gasped quietly, hugging him. Virgil leaned into it, not knowing what else to do. “Please, can’t you help me reason with them? Or order them to stop??”
Janus sighed at the pitiable request, waving Virgil along with them. “I did not know I would be held responsible for the fates of people thousands of years yet lived. Come along, quickly. We will see what we can do…”
*~*~*~*
It was early morning, and the fog that settled over the hillside made Virgil feel a little more hidden away as he exited Alba Longa’s walls. Virgil walked through the expansive orchards that ran along the eastern wall of the city. He’d stayed the night at Janus’s home, but the talk of how to get through to the twins felt like it went nowhere. Janus did not believe they could work it out, but if anyone could make them, it was probably Virgil. Still, when it came to matters of fate, even Janus seemed to appeal to what the gods apparently wanted. Virgil just needed time to think...
“Virgil!! There you are, I was looking ALL over to find you yesterday~”
Virgil winced, looking over across the plum grove to see Remus, who’d discovered him now. Though Virgil knew at least one would have seen him down here from the roof of their uncle’s home.
“Remus…hey, sorry about that– it-it’s not because I didn’t want to see you.”
“Oh, I know!! Ro and I figured you weren’t a fan of the whole competing for you thing.”
Virgil tried not to feel too hopeful with that. He was confused by what that would mean for them. “A– really?? S-So…that means…?”
“It means we are going to settle it with a duel! I just wanted to tell you. Giving you the chance to say your piece, and all that.”
Virgil’s face fell, and Remus shrugged. “Don’t look at me like that, we’ve both seen this coming for weeks. This grand city idea ain’t gonna work with two emperors. And look, this way, you don’t even have to worry about picking or being responsible for it.”
Virgil shook his head. “No…no, don’t do this. You have to find another way, you can’t just kill one another, Remus!! You two have been by each other’s sides, keeping each other safe since birth! And you’re going to throw that all away over a– an argument about whose ideas are better?! Where is Roman, you two can’t go through with this– I won’t let you.”
Remus frowned, looking away, and Virgil knew he wasn’t getting through to him. “Dunno. He went looking for you at the lake. Guess I found you first, then.”
Remus pushed off the tree he was leaning on. “We’ve made up our minds, Vi. You wouldn’t understand all the years leading up to this. It’s not just about ideas anymore. I thought at least you’d want a say if there was one of us you’d prefer made–”
Virgil gritted his teeth and grabbed Remus as he tried to walk away. “Stop!! I’m not letting you throw away your lives!”
Remus raised an eyebrow. “Only one of us would be dying, Vi. And it’s what happens when you have a power struggle. What do you think would happen if you left your one rival for the throne alive, hmm? And the people that support him?”
Virgil growled and punched him in the arm, but it did little to help him feel better since Remus didn’t react. “He’s your brother first, you idiot!! Both of you are so fucking– ugh!! Do you know what I’d give to see my brother again?? I probably never will! We disagreed on a lot of shit, but he was the only one I had and we sucked it up and worked our shit out! You’re going to hurt everyone who cares about you two, for what?! A petty-ass rivalry??”
Remus half-heartedly pulled away from Virgil’s attacks. “Look, it’s not just up to me, alright? We aren’t gonna have much a choice when the people have picked their sides, and Ro seemed pretty damn sure–”
“Pretty sure of what? The only thing I was sure of was that you were being a moron.”
Virgil and Remus looked worried and annoyed respectively as Roman stalked down the path to them.
“Oh, there’s Mr. Chosen One himself. Come to kill me early?”
Ro’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tempt me.”
Virgil frowned at them both, attempting to reason with Roman now.
“Ro…please, you two have to make up. It can’t end in blood, not for you two.”
Roman’s face softened, though he gave his brother a side-eye. Roman wrapped a comforting arm around Virgil, who looked between them uneasily.
“...relax, we aren’t just gonna start stabbing each other.”
“Probably.”
Roman glared at Remus for that.
Virgil shook his head. “I can’t…the world can’t lose either of you. Yo-You don’t understand how important that is…”
Roman gave him a small, sad smile. “Virge. Isn’t that blowing it just a little out of proportion?”
Virgil shot him a scowl. “You’re discussing fighting to the death like it’s just a spat over a game. It’s your lives! I-I can’t lose either of you.”
Roman looked down, and neither twin could meet his eyes.
“We are just too different, Virgil. And our ideals…have diverged.”
“You’re the one who’s gone back on everything we stood for,” Remus gritted out. “It’s never been a problem before now.”
Roman frowned at him. “...we cannot agree to disagree on matters bigger than our own lives, Virgil. You must come to accept that…and the outcome.”
“NO. you two are going to sit down like ADULTS and…I don’t know, split the fucking city in half! Make two cities! Anything but this!”
“You cannot just be in the middle your whole life, Virgil! At some point…people have to make choices. And I’m afraid you can’t just have us both.”
“Shut up, this isn’t about that! You both are my friends first and foremost! I-I can’t…I can’t think about those sorts of things right now when you two are treating it like the other will die if I choose– you are not forcing me to choose who lives. All my life, I’ve been losing people! I lost my family, and I’ve likely already lost my best friend in a horrific tragedy you can’t even imagine, and I-I can’t save them…! I-I– they picked the wrong guy to survive.”
Tears Virgil had tried to keep private and to a minimum were spilling over now. He’d failed them. Logan had trusted him to save them all, and for what?
Virgil sobbed, realizing he couldn’t do anything to change– to fix their futures. Was Logan even still okay? Had the facility fallen too…? Was everything gone? His head hurt thinking about a future that technically wouldn’t happen for thousands of years, but that had been real for him less than a month ago.
Two sets of arms slowly wrapped around him, and Virgil clung to them as he cried harder, letting them support him as his hope about the future felt like it was slipping through his fingers, no matter how hard he tried to hold on.
“Please…you’re the only…this is the one chance I have…!”
Roman’s hand gently cupped his face. “Shh, Vee, it’s okay…we shouldn’t have put all that pressure on you. I didn’t know it was affecting you this way…”
Remus squeezed his shoulders, other hand carding through Virgil’s hair. “Hey…stop crying, Vee, we…we don’t have to do anything right now. I can’t make any promises, but…if you’ve got a better idea, we can hear you out. It’s not like we’re on some time limit...”
Virgil scrubbed at his wet face. “D-Don’t lie…you better mean it when you tell me that.”
Roman grimaced. “...the gods certainly wish for a true leader. This is bigger than our destinies alone.”
“And what if they’re pitting you against one another?” Virgil challenged stubbornly.
Roman and Remus shared very brief eye contact over Virgil’s head.
“...well then, what hope would we have of defying our fate? How about we don’t ask those questions in their domain…”
Remus sighed, arms folded as they both pulled back, but stayed close to Virgil for support. “Look…we will hear you out, alright? The only hope you should have is hope that divine intervention isn’t gonna come for our asses, though.”
Virgil decided he could work with that. He had to make it work. Everyone was counting on him.