Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Janus stirred, first aware of a dark green surfacing through the little light against his closed eyelids. He slowly blinked his eyes open, not quite aware of everything yet. As his eyes opened he noticed some light coming in through the leaves of the top of the forest. Top of the forest? Wait.

As Janus brought himself to sit up he felt leaves shift below him. He leaned back, thankful there was a tree behind him.

Something…wasn’t right, here. He shouldn’t be waking up on the floor of a forest. He was feeling a great wrongness here. He tried to think back to how he got there, but that only gave him fuzzy images and a dizzying headache. That could not be good. He put his hand against the tree as he stood up. He felt groggy.

How long had he been asleep? That was also concerning.

As he righted himself he looked around. He was definitely in the middle of a forest. How strange. It seemed dark in there though.
He seemed to be in period clothes with a cape, that didn’t feel off at least. He carefully started stepping around, wondering how he should go about this, considering he didn’t know which way was out. Something told him it would probably be a bad idea to call out either, he didn’t know what lurked in these woods. As he started to walk around he tried to find a space between trees that could remotely resemble a path. They didn’t seem consistent though.
He wasn't sure how far he had gotten before he heard someone clicking.

“Oh you’ve done it.”

Janus whirled around to face the figure, human-like with an inhuman quality. Fae, his mind supplied him with somehow. Not sure how he knew that.

“Ohh you’ve done it now,” the figure said as they stepped towards Janus. Janus couldn’t help but step away. The fae laughed and then shook their head.

“I don’t know where you got off going around with the dead Serpent King’s face. It’s not going to end well either way.”

Janus narrowed his eyes. What were they talking about? The fae rolled their eyes.

“Oh please, no point in keeping up an act. It’s a pretty stupid thing to do.”
The fae flicked out into their hand a light colored blade.

“We don’t take kindly to mockeries of betraying usurpers around here. You wear his face, you get the same fate.”

Janus gasped and quickly dove away from the blade aimed right towards him. He breathed fast as he quickly tried to get away, not wanting them out of his sight but also wanting to get out of there.

“Help!” He shouted then bit his tongue. That felt like a stupid thing to do. He didn’t know the intentions of any of the creatures around there. An angry snarl came from the fae who attacked him.

“Don’t act so pathetic when you dare to wear that traitor’s face!”
They launched for Janus again. Janus stumbled back, falling backwards when another figure swiftly stood in front of the other fae. Said fae stopped when he did, frowning, but standing down.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Your highness, I didn’t t-“

“This is still close enough to the revel for me to intervene. What is the issue?”

The fae scowled.

“That bastard made a mockery of the executed king by traipsing around with his face! I was only doing us all a favor by putting a stop to it.”

The royal stiffened and looked around to look at Janus. Janus stood up and eyed him cautiously, poised to take off if he had to, not that Janus knew where exactly he could go.
The royal’s face was unreadable.

“I am here now, so I am not allowing personal justice by killing on sight. I will see to it that this matter is addressed.”

“But-“

“Why do you wear my brother’s face?” The Royal asked Janus this time. Janus just looked at him.

“I am afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“He lies!” The other fae cried.

“I do not understand your accusation, seeing as we can only consider a fae capable of such a transformation, and in that case, he would be incapable of lying.”

Fae? Him? Janus felt like whether or not he was fae, should be something he should know about himself. So why did he feel so unsure about that?

The royal gave the fae attacker beside him a sharp look.

“You are no longer helpful to this situation. Go on to the revel now.”

The other fae did not seem happy about this but went off without a complaint. The royal looked at Janus again.

“Explain,” He said.

“Explain what?”

“Explain how you look nearly identical to my dead brother.”

“How the hell should I know that? You’re acting like you’ve never seen someone who looks similar to someone else before.”

“Well his snake scales are pretty iconic to him.”

His what?

Janus took notice of an off feeling, as some things were coming back to him slower. He reached his hand to touch the left side of his face and gasped when he felt not smooth skin but the raised circles of reptilian scales. Well, that mas definitely a magical characteristic. The royal was watching him.

“I, along with many others, also saw him brutally murdered in front of our own eyes, so him seeming alive should not make any sense at all.”

Janus eyes widened at that. What the hell?

This was a lot. He clenched his teeth as he felt the start of what could turn into hyperventilating. That was the last thing he needed right there. To go into a vulnerable state in front of a stranger who clearly viewed him suspiciously.

“Perhaps we should start with what you are doing here?”

Janus sucked in a breath.

“I-I don’t know.” Janus looked at him then broke eye contact. “I don’t know how I got here. I just woke up on the forest floor. I know how that sounds-“

“Not as farfetched as you would think.”

Janus looked up at him in bewilderment. The royal’s lips twitched up briefly.

“Do you know who I am?”

Janus shook his head.

“Should I?”

The royal seemed to withhold a laugh again.

“Some call me the lord of the forest.”

Janus slowly nodded at that. Somehow, that seemed to work, considering how the attacking fae earlier had acted around him.

“I am also known as the spider prince. What is the last thing you remember?” the lord of the forest asked.

“Before waking up?”

He nodded.

Janus pursed his lips as he thought. It was a bit fuzzy. He went up to a tree. There was a conversation with someone whose face he couldn’t recall. Something happened. It wasn’t good. He remembered his consciousness fading.

He hissed and winced. It was clearly not a good memory. The prince frowned.
Janus said, “Not much.”

The prince hmmed. Then he turned around.

“Come with me,” he said.

Janus just stood for a moment.

“I may know of some people who can help,” the prince said. He started to walk away.

“You may want to readjust your hat, though,” he said as he nodded to Janus’ snake side and then began to walk again. Janus turned his hat and pulled it down some, not quite covering the side of his face completely, and found himself following. It wasn’t like he had many other choices anyways.

There were whispers around them.

Here comes the prince.
Strange. Who follows him?
Who tries to cover part of his face?
Poor coverage indeed.
Wait is that-?
How can it be?
We saw him dead.
Who wears the dead serpent’s face?

Janus drew himself up and sped up his pace some, feeling extremely uncomfortable. They walked into a very big clearing, filled with people dancing about. There was an overall feyness to it. Many stared at them as they went past. This whole thing seemed to scream danger to Janus. He followed the prince wondering what he was thinking. He didn’t know what the prince thought of Janus at all. They made their way to an area along the edge of the clearing in the back, clearly set aside from everything else. There were three others who looked close in age to the prince. Janus noticed a fey knight off to the side as well. She made her way over to them as the two walked forward. The prince gestured.

“Can you explain this?” He asked her. The fey knight looked at Janus in shock, then her hand made its way to the sword at her side. Janus gasped and stepped back. The prince held up a hand before her.

“I already spoke with him, he claims not to know how he got here. If he is fae, as I suspect, then he can’t be lying.”
The knight frowned but she eased up some.

“That doesn’t make him innocent though.” The other three who had been waiting for the prince stood near them. Varying levels of expressions on their faces.
The knight gave him a hard look.

“What is your name?”
Janus opened his mouth, then paused. You weren’t supposed to give your name to the fae, which she clearly was, along with the prince.

“…you may call me Jay,” He almost wished he had thought of a cleverer nickname, not one that was too close to his actual name. She hmmed, still on guard.

“He never gave anyone his real name anyways,” one of the others standing by them spoke up, who was also dressed like a knight. Although he had an iron dagger on his sheath. The prince nodded.

“I also asked him if he knew who I was and he said no,” The prince said. That caused many confused looks around them. The prince looked to another in their group. Another fae. This one, who also appeared fae, yet strangely wore glasses, tilted his head and looked at Janus in consideration.

“Hmm, well he does seem to be fae.”

“I think the snake scales were pretty telling of that. I also don’t know of any witches who can do that.”

“He did act surprised when I mentioned the scales though, as though he didn’t conjure a glamor for himself.”

“I cannot think of why someone would play at this anyways though. After all, we cannot lie and to our knowledge no one else has transformative abilities like the fae do,” Specs said.

“Aren’t there other faeries who look alike though?” The last one, with curly hair and similar glasses, asked.

The glasses clad fae shook his head.

“Not like this at least.”

“My brother was made to be gentry, as we were made to be ruling heirs of this forest. He and I were the only ones who came into being the way we did. There would be no one like us.”

The one dressed as a knight gestured at Janus.

“Well then how would you explain this!?”

The glasses faery pursed his lips.

“I am afraid I am not sure.”

This was all just really weird. He would have left ages ago if he had any idea on where to go.

“Hey everyone! What’s going on?” A voice called out loudly from behind him, getting closer. “What are you all staring at?”

The people in front of him seemed to grow very concerned as the voice approached.

The glasses fae spoke, “R-Duke…”

Janus found he couldn’t help but turn to face the other. This was a green man. He literally had mint green skin. He hung a spiked mace over his shoulder. The green man, Duke as specs called him, just stared at him, face varying in extreme expressions. Janus wasn’t sure what to make of this. He was starting to get used to the bizarre reactions to him which was incredibly infuriating. There was something about the man before him though. Something familiar that was almost on the tip of his tongue. He seemed handsome too, even with the green skin, and somewhat ridiculous mustache. The man seemed to settle on something.

“What..the hell!?”

Chapter Text

The Duke had a very crazed look to his eyes.

“What is this!?” The duke exclaimed.

Janus twitched back some, concerned about sudden moves as though he were around some wild beast. Considering this was another fae, and how he looked at that moment, maybe he wasn’t that far off. Everyone had tensed up at his arrival. They were all still though.

The duke twitched some, his fingers clenched and unclenched. He stepped towards Janus, but someone stood in the way. Janus couldn’t see the face of the person who stood between them, but whatever it was made the Duke look concerned. There was even more of a hint of mania to his face.

“I just-I need to-“ The Duke glanced around. Then after a moment he shot over to the glasses fae and frantically grabbed his shoulders, mace fallen by their feet. Janus jumped.

“Snowmelt! I need you to help ground me into reality. I am seeing him, and it’s not possible, I can’t be seeing him I just can’t.”

His rambling seemed frantic. The man who he called snowmelt seemed very concerned. He grabbed the Duke’s arms.

“Remus. Remus! Look at me.”

Remus, apparently, took a breath and shakily met his eyes.

“You’re not seeing things. I see him too. But!” He quickly said as Remus started to look frazzled again, “he’s not-“ Snowmelt choked on what he was going to say, and hesitated. He looked at Janus again before returning his gaze to Remus.

“It’s not like it was. We don’t know what’s going on yet, but he is not going to hurt you again. Ok?”

Remus’ breath slowed as he took in Snowmelt’s words. He seemed unsure, but at least he calmed down. He stepped beside Snowmelt and turned to him.

“So what do we know then?”

“That is what we’re trying to figure out,” the one dressed as a knight said with a sigh. Janus found his eyes kept darting between them, still tensed from whatever just happened. It gave him a weird feeling. This entire thing was unsettling.

The curly haired one gently caught Remus up on what they knew so far. Snowmelt turned his attention back to Janus.

“Do you remember where in the forest you woke up?”

Janus scrunched his face in thought.

“I think so…but” He pursed his lips, unsure how to word his concern.

“But what?” The prince asked.

“Isn’t locating in the forest a bit difficult on revel nights?”

The others paused and looked at each other.

“Have you been to a revel before?” The prince asked.

“I…don’t believe so. I feel like I recall that would be a bad idea.”

“That should not be as much of a concern for a faerie,” the knight said.

“We have a pretty good handle on navigating the forest now, even on a revel night. We should be able to help you if you think you can remember.”

“I, however, cannot do this now, since I am the prince of the forest, I must attend to the revel to ensure the peace is kept,” The prince said.

“I could take him,” the curly haired one said.

“Pa- uh,” he paused and cleared his throat, “It’s dangerous,” Snowmelt said.

“Well, I know all of you will not want to leave the revel due to your duties, and I have gotten better with my abilities. I am stronger than you think,” Curly said.

“None of us think you aren’t strong, my love,” The knight dressed companion said.

“Perhaps it would be better to not go tonight anyways. It is late, on a revel night, and since we don’t know what’s going on, there could be more danger than we know of,” Snowmelt said.

“What should we do then?” The companion dressed as a knight asked.

They paused and then looked at Janus.

“What do you want to do?” The curly haired one asked. Janus stared at them in bewilderment.

“What do I want to do? How the heck should I know!? I woke up not knowing where I was and I keep getting looks like I’m a ghost by people I don’t even know!”

Janus let out a breath in frustration. The others looked at each other.

“Would you like to simply sit with us for now?” Snowmelt asked.

Janus sighed. “It’s not like I have many options right now anyways.”

He followed them to where they were sitting earlier.

The others sat except for the knight who stood off to the side at her post, not being very subtle with how often she looked over at him. Janus stood awkwardly by them for a moment.

The curly haired one smiled at him and patted the seat next to him.

“You can sit!” He said brightly. Janus hesitantly sat beside him.

“You may call me Wren!” He called cheerily. “I also like the nickname Goldilocks-“

“-but that is a nickname saved solely for his very powerful boyfriends,” the knight dressed one said very pointedly, from where he sat. Wren gave him a look.

Well Janus felt awkward now.

“…Alright. Well you may call me Jay,” he said to Wren.

Wren smiled at Janus and nodded before he gestured from those beside him.

Snowmelt nodded to Janus.

“You may call me L.”

The others didn’t give him nicknames. Alright then.

It was awkward and uncomfortable. But at least Wren seemed nice.

It was unfortunate his thoughts kept going back to these confusing circumstances. There seemed to be a lot going on at the revel as well. Lots of whispering and staring.
He wasn’t quite sure why this group was helping him when it was clear they were wary of him, apparently because of his resemblance to a previous traitorous ruler. He would take what he would get, but still be on guard.

They stayed late. Gosh, how long did these things go til?

Wren yawned and started to lean onto L. L looked down at Wren softly. It was sweet.

L then looked over to the spider prince.

“Are you good to stay as I get them home?”

The prince nodded at him.

“There’s not as many here now,” The Prince said.

L nodded and carefully got up, lifting Wren into a bridal carry. He paused.

“I don’t think we decided what to do, since we deemed it dangerous to go searching now.”

L turned to Janus.

“Do you have somewhere to go?” Wren suddenly piped up sleepily.

Janus paused.

“Uh- I don’t think so.” He furrowed his brows. “I don’t think I had a home. I remember traveling a lot.” The others exchanged looks, like they seemed to do every time he said something about himself. It was aggravating.

“I-hmm…” L started. “I feel places he could stay in town would not be welcoming to a fae, as he looks.” He thought some more. “I am unsure of the room in our house…”

“Perhaps we could set up one of your hammocks nearby?” Their knight companion, who hadn’t shared his name, suggested. “He wouldn’t be just left out that way.”

“Hm, yeah that could work.”

They were suggesting he sleep outside? He noticed they didn’t exactly ask him. What else could he bring up though? He didn’t know these people or where the line might be. This could all be a trap for all he knew, and his lack of information was driving him crazy.

“I can stay by him while he’s there,” Remus said. They turned to him in surprise.

“Are you sure Remus?” Snowmelt asked.

Remus shrugged, “Eh, I live in the forest anyways. Besides, I don’t live with you all, so it wouldn’t disrupt anything.”

The knight companion looked like he wanted to argue.

“It’s fiine, Ro. You all will be right there, and I can handle myself. I can’t do anything to him anyways.”

What was that supposed to mean?

Remus continued, “Just let me know if there’s anything else you want me to do. It’s the least I can do after all the ways you guys have helped me.”

Janus was slightly embarrassed to admit how wary he was to walk in the forest this late at night, even with the others who were with him. He didn’t recall fearing the dark before, but then again maybe waking up in a strange place could do that to you. After some walking, they seemed to reach a nice woodsy house, although it was hard to tell with the lack of light. L carried Wren inside.

The prince looked around. He walked around the side, jumped up, and started stringing spider silk between a couple of trees into the shape of a hammock.

Janus’ jaw dropped.

“I- are you making a hammock out of your own spider silk?”

“Mhm,” came from a different voice. Janus turned and jumped when he saw that Remus had somehow grown a large mossy cradle for himself, that he was already lounging in. It didn’t look very sanitary to Janus, but then again if this fae did live in the woods like he claimed, it was probably nothing to him. Unsure how to react, he turned back to the prince.

“But, will-“

“The hammocks I have made are strong enough to hold up myself and my three partners at once. I think you will be fine,” the prince said, sounding indignant.

Janus still looked on hesitantly.

Remus then said, “Would you rather wear a snake den into the ground right there?”

Janus whirled on him and scowled.

“What a ridiculous thing to suggest.”

Remus shrugged, seeming unconcerned.

“How would I know how you sleep?”

Janus refrained from complaining about sleeping outside in the first place. It was certainly better than the nowhere option.

Remus patted some moss beside him.

“Wanna feel how squishy it is?”

Janus scrunched his face, “No thanks.”

“It’s actually more comfortable than you’d think.”

“Hm.”

The spider got back down.

“There you go.”

Janus stepped towards it and stopped again. He tried to figure out how to ask his question without offending the prince, but couldn’t shake off his concern.

“I- well, I mean, aren’t spider webs meant to stick and capture creatures that aren’t spiders?”

The prince frowned.

“It’s not going to trap you. And even if it were, I can always get you out.”

That was not as reassuring as it was probably meant to be.

The prince continued, “It might stick some, but it’s light enough that it would more so be a slight annoyance, like if you were to get moss in your hair or something.”

Remus then said, “Yeah, but not the oozy kind though. Webbing is much lighter, right?”

The prince gave Remus a look, “…yes, right.”

Surprisingly, Remus popped up then, stretched his arms over his head and then tossed himself into the web hammock, startling Janus and the prince.

“Wha- Remus!”

“Whaat~? I was just showing him it was fine.” Remus patted the web. “If you join me up here, at least you won’t be alone if you get stuck.”

The prince sighed at that.

“I usually make big webs, so there should be enough room for both of you to lay in there comfortably, without even touching each other.”

Janus hesitated but he finally got closer to the web.

The prince stepped forward, a hand held out,

“Do you need hel-“

“Nope,” Janus abruptly pulled himself into the web hammock, bouncing the whole thing and sending Remus rolling into him. Remus snickered at his expense. Janus was mortified to feel his face heat up some. They remained still until the rocking stopped before Remus scooted back to an acceptable distance. The prince seemed to struggle to school in a neutral expression.

“Are you good?” The Prince asked. Janus nodded. The prince nodded back,

“Ok, well I will be in the house if you need anything, alright?”

Then he went inside.

Janus finagled a bit to take his hat off, and pushed his shoes off with some effort, hoping they landed close. He saw that Remus’ weapon from earlier was laid against the tree. Janus didn’t take his cape off, but he did unlatch it so he would be more comfortable. He glanced around and startled when he noticed that Remus was watching him. Remus immediately glanced away and grew surprisingly quiet. Even though he had been unsettled, Janus found himself look over the other.

He was glad there were some outside porch lights so they weren’t in complete darkness. Janus was trying to figure out how he felt about the one before him, why he was drawn to look at him. The mustache, and everything almost gave him a rugged look. Janus can’t say he ever expected to check out a man with green skin, but it certainly wasn’t the oddest thing that had happened that day.

“Can I ask you something?” Janus asked him then.

He heard a rustle as Remus shifted to look at Janus again with his green eyes curiously.

“Me sleeping out here, that wasn’t only because of how much room there is in their house, is it?”

Remus’ silence was answer enough for Janus. Janus sighed. Remus opened his mouth a couple of times. Then he finally spoke,

“We all have very good reason to be wary from seeing his face. None of them are trying to be cruel.”

Janus huffed out a humorless laugh and shook his head.

“That’s the worst part of all this. You all look at me like I killed a loved one, and I still know barely anything about this situation. I am not necessarily blaming you, but it’s still unfair.”

Remus didn’t speak for a moment. Janus wondered if he opened up too much.

“Well…you’re not the only one who has had to deal with unfairness due to similar appearances.”

Janus’ eyes widened and he looked over at Remus, actually looked at him.

Remus smiled sadly and sighed.

“I don’t do this talky stuff much, like this, just so you know.”

He seemed to cut off at something.

Janus opened his mouth to ask about it when Remus turned again.

“Goodnight Jay,” and stilled.

Janus looked at his back for a moment, a bit unsure of what he was longing for.

“…goodnight.”

Chapter Text

For the second time, outside light seeping against his eyelids started to rouse him awake. The sunlight would feel good if he were more conscious though. He groaned, as though the sun were an annoying wakener. He shifted and felt something warm against him. Well that was nice.

He leaned towards it, and felt something somewhat soft yet unsmooth against his face.

Wait. Something wasn’t right about that.

Janus blinked his eyes open and blurrily looked in front of him. It was…someone. It took a few moments for his brain to kick in, and then he jolted upon realization of what happened. The jolt unfortunately shook the other awake who was mumbling and blinking in some disorientation. As Janus had panic tried to scoot back from him, he ended rocking the hammock again and tossed himself out.

“Oof.”

Well, that was a rough wakeup.

A door slammed open close by.Janus just blinked up from where he had fallen on the ground. Apparently Remus was better at holding on and keeping his balance. He gave Janus a sheepish smile through the holes in the webbing.

“Goodness, Jay. I didn’t think I was that intolerable already. I was even trying to tone it down for you.”
Somehow, that got a little laugh out of Janus, even though he was sure he was blushing.
Steps rushed to them.

“What happened!? We heard a fall. Oh! Jay, are you alright!?” Wren exclaimed. Janus sighed, and tried with as much dignity as he could to carefully scoot out from under the hammock. Upon seeing his shoes by him on the floor, he started to put them on.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just unused to sleeping in hammocks, or with another nearby. Not a fun combination for temporary morning amnesia.”
The Prince winced in sympathy. Janus stood up as gracefully as he could manage.
Remus somehow flipped out of the hammock, and creaked as he stretched.

“Well, I liked the sticky hanging banana.”

“How did you even come up with that for a description?” L asked. Remus just shrugged.
Wren cleared his throat.

“We were going to have breakfast. What would you like?”

“Uh, I’m not picky honestly.”

“Careful with that,” L started, “Because Remus’ version of ‘not picky’ includes any plant he can find.”
Janus grimaced at that. “Gosh, not like that. Please tell me someone around here knows how to make normal human food?”
They shared a look again, of course, and Wren nodded.

“Of course!”

“Good. I’m fine with something simple.” Wren nodded again before he scurried back inside to the kitchen. Wren seemed to remove tension with his presence, and return it as he left.

“We can eat wherever,” L said.
Janus nodded. “Is there room for whatever you do normally?”

L nodded, “Yes.”
Janus bit back another comment.

“Alright. Th- uh, I appreciate it.” They walked back to the front.

“Please tell me at some point I’ll hear why you are all acting so strange around me. It is driving me crazy.”
The Prince bit the inside of his lip.

“I suppose that’s fair,” L said. Remus hopped in front of them not bothering to hold the door open. There was a sigh as they made it in. The house wasn’t cramped or anything. It was cozy. Janus was surprised to see an old woman in a wheelchair by a window, glaring at him in suspicion.

“Oh right, we forgot to tell you about Mamaw,” Ro said as he went over to give her a hug. She made a disgruntled face but patted him back.

“She’s my Mamaw. She’s a witch too, so maybe she can help us figure it out.”

“…okay. I think I’m going to wait over there. Let me know when breakfast is ready,” Janus said.
Nobody protested. He could tell there were many whisperings.
-

Breakfast was awkward. Not that that was saying much at that point.

“So Mamaw, do you have any ideas what could be the cause of this?” Ro asked her, gesturing at Janus. The old woman scrunched her face and shrugged.

“Not sure why you thought I would know anythang, I only know witch magic, not as much about fae magic.”
They then turned to the prince. The prince sighed.

“I can’t think of anything relating to what he is claiming happened to him.”

“I haven’t claimed anything,” Janus spoke up, “I have simply said I don’t know what’s going.”

“Ya know there’s an obvious way to answer some things,” Mamaw looked at him directly.

“Are you the Serpent King?”
Janus was taken aback, “What?”

“Just answer the question directly. Are you the serpent king?”

“…no?”
She hmmed at that.
Ro then stood in front of him.

“Have you ever gone by the nickname Dee?”

Janus furrowed his brows at that, “No?”
Ro’s shoulders relaxed some at that answer.

“What’s with the weird questions anyways?”
They hesitated.
Janus found his fingers curl, feeling that frustration again.

“Those may be helpful to reassure you about me apparently looking like someone you all are wary of, but this is not helpful to me at all. I get it, apparently I’m a reminder or whatever. I did not wake up thinking about who I look like. I would rather just go somewhere to get some idea about whatever strange situation I woke up in than stew in that. So could you please either help me, point me out to who will actually help me, or let me be on my merry way, because frankly I am tired of already being treated like a bad guy by people I don’t even know.”

Janus let out a breath after his tirade. That felt a little out of character for him, but his frustration had been building and he had a feeling he did not currently have access to whatever his usual coping skills were. Their expressions changed, but it was still hard for him to read. He stood up then.
He still felt unsure about what he would get himself into if he headed out alone, but he wasn’t sure if his patience could take this. A moment after he turned around he heard steps.

“Wait,” Wren said.

Janus paused and looked back at him.

He sighed.

“You’re right,” Wren looked at the others in the room then back at him. “We did say we would help you. Please sit back down.”
Janus sighed and returned to his seat, arms crossed.

“I think we were going to try and go see where Jay woke up, yes? To see if we could get any clues?”
Janus nodded slowly.

They went back to breakfast as some discussion continued.

“It seems like our main concerns are figuring out the reason behind the amnesia. Also, it seems important to look into the similarity of his appearance,” The prince said.
Janus rolled his eyes, “I thought I said-“

“I know you do not seem to care about this similarity, but I feel it’s an important detail to look into. Think about it. Remember how the faery in the forest reacted upon seeing you?”
That did get Janus to consider.

“See? Most likely, if there is a magical cause to this, as I suspect, whoever did it had a clear reason, and I frankly don’t think it’s a good one. Looking like a traitorous king who was executed? That is going to kick up tension and wariness, which does not lead to anything good. “

“I would suggest being careful,” L said, “Given what V has said.”
Janus hmmed, thinking over everything.

“I think we may need to look into types of transformation magics as well.”

“V, do you know of any magic used that transformed what someone was? Like from a human to a faery?”
V, who was apparently the prince, frowned as he thought.

“I cannot think of an instance with that happening at least. Why?”

“Based on some of the things I have noticed, I am wondering if that is a possibility. Jay acts like he thinks he is human.”

“Excuse me?” Jay asked. He had suspected as much himself, but the way it was worded made it come across like this was a big problem.

“Just some of the things you have said. Plus, most faeries know of some things that you seem not to. What do you think of yourself at the moment?”

“Well, you all have made it clear that this,” he gestured to his snake scales, “is a pretty good indicator of me being a fae.”

“Yes, but that is based off of what we told you. An uncertainty in that regard, unless you tell me you think otherwise, concerns me of how great this amnesia may be affecting you.”
Janus sighed.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t even thinking about it until my attacker from the woods and you all started talking about it. I had some familiarity with knowing of fae, but did feel off when they first said that.”

“This is just, so odd.”

Janus snorted at that for some reason, “That is a gross understatement.”
L stood.

“Shall we go investigate then? Do you still remember where?”
Janus nodded, “Well, at least I believe I can figure it out from where the revel took place.”

“We can start from there.”

V stood. “I am coming as well, just give me a moment.”
V pulled Ro off to the side, and talked to him quietly.
Janus rolled his eyes and walked towards the front to wait there.

“Hey.”

Janus blinked as Remus approached him, the green man having been surprisingly quiet during most of that.

“We’re lucky we have those four, honestly. They look out for people.”
Janus just looked at him.

“I may do some rounds to scour for suspicious beings. I do live in this forest,” Remus winked at him before he took off. Janus blinked. He wasn’t sure what to make of that one.

“Alright.” Someone clapped. Janus turned to them.

“L and I shall accompany you there.” V walked out the door and stopped in front of a tree before he looked back at them.

“Do you mind if I help us get there faster?” He asked.

Janus raised an eyebrow at him, “That depends. What do you mean?”
He hesitated.

“It would probably be better for him to just show you, so we can get there,” L said. He walked right over to V, although he was already grimacing.
Janus frowned a little but sighed.

“You will want to hold on to us,” V said. Janus hesitantly got closer. Being close to other people did not feel normal to him. Remus falling into him in the hammock earlier had been a shock, although this one was definitely filled with more nerves.

Janus wrapped his hands around them, following as he saw them doing, and they each wrapped an arm around him. Before he could ask about what was about to happen, suddenly his world was swamped with black. He also felt a whooshing motion, as though his body had become liquid-like or formless. The only feeling coming to him was a cold around him, aside from the less cold feeling of the others’ arms around him. Yet, quickly, the black cold dripped away and they were on solid ground again. A motion seemed to continue with him though as he felt propelled onto his knees. He put a fist to his mouth as he fought nausea.

He distantly heard an apologetic murmuring above him. As soon as he felt something solid behind him he allowed himself to lean back into a tree trunk, the world was still dizzy for him. He unsteadily looked to the side, where V was standing fine, but holding up an unsteady L. After a moment, where L seemed more stable, they looked down at him.

“Are you alright?” V asked. Janus gave him an incredulous look.
He touched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry. I knew I should have given you more warning.”

“I don’t respond well to his level of shadow transportation either,” L cut in, starting to look a bit better, although he put a hand against the tree Janus was sitting against.
V sighed.

“Yeah I remember it didn’t go well when I tried to bring D-“ V cut off, glanced at Janus and looked away. Janus sighed again.

“Do you think you will be able to continue any time soon?” L asked. Janus scowled.

“I’ll see a moment.”
L nodded. After a bit, V looked back over, saw how L was, and then turn to Janus again.

“How are you feeling?” V asked, crouching and holding a hand out for him. Janus scoffed, but accepted the hand. Embarrassing enough, L helped steady him as well.

“I’ll manage,” Janus said. L frowned a little at the not-quite answer. V ticked his head.

“Which direction?”
Janus took a breath. When the world didn’t spin as he turned his head, he let himself get a look of their surroundings. He pointed to a space in the trees he remembered passing. V nodded and started in that direction. L walked with Janus.

Now that they were here earlier in the day, as they continued to go towards where Janus woke up, Janus picked up on how that area of the forest actually was darker. He had thought it solely had to do with the time of day before. There were also a lot less movement, like there was less life.

“What is it, dear?”
Janus looked to see L giving V a look.
V pursed his lips.

“I know this area, of course, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here…” He trailed off and seem to ponder.
Janus walked ahead and stopped in front of a tree trunk much bigger than all of the others.

“I woke up on the ground right here.”
He said, pointing to the area right in front of the tree. V’s eyes widened as he came forward.

“That’s…” He paused.
Janus narrowed his eyes at the other, but he wasn’t looking at Janus. They were quiet. Then, V extended a hand to the side. A shadow coming out from the tree curled up and then encompassed V. Janus jumped.

“What the-“ He looked over at L, who just pursed his lips in concern.

“What the heck just happened!?” Janus asked him. L turned to him and sighed. He adjusted his glasses.

“I am uncertain how to explain it…but I believe he is communicating with his mother?”
Janus gave him an incredulous look, “Ok, I’m going to need more than that.”

“To my understanding, V claims the forest is his mother who’s physical form comes to him in shadows, and when he goes into them he can sometimes hear her?”
Janus didn’t even know how to begin to respond to any of that. Somehow, he was saved from trying as V came out of the shadows frowning slightly.

“Well?” L asked.
“What was that about?” Jay asked.
V pursed his lips. He gestured to the tree.

“This tree is where my brother and I, at separate times, came into being.”

“…you came out of a tree?”

“Yes. And as far as I know, nobody had come over here in a very long time, so I knew it was significant for you to wake up here.” He gestured at the shadows behind him. “Since my mother created us there, I decided to ask her if she knew anything about this.” A frustrated look came over the prince’s face.

He continued, “Unfortunately, mother can be difficult to communicate with at times. She will say some words, and she shows me some images, but she is not always the clearest at getting her meaning across.”

L then asked, “So what did she say?”

V sighed. “She said, ‘not brother’ when I asked about Jay. I tried to get more than that, but I got images of him, “ he motioned to Janus, “asleep, in the tree trunk, where we had been born, and on the ground. I think she may have been the one to move him out of the tree and awaken him. At least, she didn’t show me any images where anyone else did anything before he woke up.”

“Why would she do that? I mean, no offense, but your mother does not seem the type to interfere a lot,” L said.

V nodded, “You’re right, she’s not.

“There is clearly some significance to this then.”

“I would say she normally only interferes if it’s something related to me, and this does not happen very much. She was much weaker for a while so I have not heard from her as much since I woke up.”

“This implies that there is a connection to you to some extent.”

“I mean, I kind of figured that. Anything related to my brother always seems to come back to me somehow.”

“Did anyone else know this was the tree you came out of, before you told us that is?”

“Unless someone witnessed us come out of there that I wasn’t aware of, I don’t think so. Just mother, my brother, and I knew the significance of this place.”

“Hmm,” L put a couple of fingers to his chin in thought. V and L both glanced at Janus and then looked back at each other.

“What can we do with this information then?” L asked.
V sighed again.

“I’m not sure. If Jay was put to sleep as he is now, and he is fae, we have no idea how long he may have been like that.”
They paused, and then the pair turned to Janus.

“I don’t suppose it’s too soon to ask if you remember anything else since waking up?”
Janus sighed and thought.

“Every time I try to, I get a headache, and the images I do see I can’t recall long enough to even begin to describe.”
He wasn’t sure if he needed to mention the bad feeling they gave him. He didn’t like admitting stuff like that.

“The headache is probably another sign of it being magical.”

“I feel like we’re already going in circles about this,” L sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “When we reach a seeming ‘dead end’ in an investigation, it’s a good idea to go back to looking. If we go over any possibilities, we can conceivably find some more answers as we gather as much information as we can.”

V nodded, “Right. Are you suggesting you have an idea for how to do that next?”
L nodded.

“We haven’t exactly tested if he’s fae.” L said. “We can start from there and look for any outliers to see if we can learn anything else.”
V looked considering and gave a hesitant nod.

“I mean, you would know science more than me, so I think I get it?”

“Plus, how strong of a reaction he has, depending on what we use, could also help us gather data on his power strength. And you would know what would be similar to your brother’s, right V?”

V nodded at that. “Yeah, ok that makes sense now.”

Janus hesitated. “What exactly would that entail?”
Janus wasn’t entirely sure what he would want the results to be from these tests.

“There are many ways. First, I think we should go back to a safer place if we’re done here. I think we should also ask Ro and Nana to look into more on witch magic, in any way that may be related. We may end up being surprised, as I suspect we are dealing with new territory here.”

They nodded.

Chapter Text

They went back to the house the normal way.

Roman and Mamaw already appeared to be looking through some books on witch magic. They both looked up as the three came back into the house.

“Did you find anything out?” Ro asked.

L and V looked at each other. Then V sort of shrugged.

“Possibly? We found some significant information-“

“But it doesn’t necessarily bring us more insight into this” L said gesturing at Janus.

Janus pursed his lips.

“We’re going to try some other things out to see if we can gather anything else.”

Ro started to get up, “Do you need-“

“No, dear.” L stepped forward and held Ro’s hands.

Just then, a cat hopped up onto the table Ro had been reading at, and gave a loud miffed meow towards Ro. Ro gave the cat a look, but then turned back as L continued.

“You are fine as you are. You are the most qualified here to help us search through magic books. You are being very helpful.”

Ro blushed at that and looked away. He then mumbled, “It’s not like we’re the only witches around here or anything.”

L simply smiled, leaned in and pecked Ro’s cheek. V smiled softly at them.

“Oh, go on like I am not contributing just as much if not more,” Mamaw called out.

L huffed, “I thought the plural ‘you’ was implied!”

Ro snickered. Mamaw was clearly fighting a smile, so L let it go. He squeezed Ro’s hands one more time before turning back to V and Janus.

“Should we wait for our songbird for this?” He asked. “We certainly can’t do everything, as we are fae ourselves.”

V tilted his head, then shook it.

“Not for all of it. He loves working at the bakery, I don’t want to pull him away from it.”

L nodded with a soft smile.

“Very well. Perhaps I should get some of my family members to help then?”

V hmmed.

“If they’re comfortable with it.”

They turned to Janus.

“Is that alright?”

Janus hesitated.

“I guess.”

L stepped towards him.

“Don’t worry, my family members are good people. I don’t think they would do anything unprovoked.”

Janus nodded hesitantly. It’s not like he had a lot of options then anyways. L got his phone out to see if his brother was home. When he got an affirmative, the three of them walked through the woods and into town.

Apparently they did not have a ready car, as they lived in the woods, so they were walking for now. L turned to Janus but paused before speaking. Janus was about to ask him what was up, when V quickly hopped into a shadow thing and came back, holding out Janus’ hat.

“Apparently we forgot your hat by the hammock.”

Janus mouth formed an O, and he sheepishly put his hat back on, trying to angle it like he had the other night at the revel despite knowing that would not be enough. Janus looked around as they walked, trying to see if he would get something from this. He wasn’t sure how to describe what he was seeing. It felt familiar but not. And there was definitely a twinge of magic feeling in the air, as to be expected from a town like Wickhills. Although he wasn’t sure how he knew that.

When they got to L’s family’s house, they waited outside for his brother to come out to greet them.

When Janus saw L’s brother come outside, he was immediately struck with the similar appearances the two had. Yet, there was a lack of the faery features that were prominent on L.

Changeling, his mind supplied, although he wasn’t sure how he knew that.

The brother stood on the steps for a moment staring at Janus. Janus shifted in discomfort.

“Bug. I would like your assistance, as we are met with a situation we are unsure what to do with.”

‘Bug’ looked at Janus then to L.

“Yeah, I am getting that feeling.” He walked over to L.

“He has told us we may call him Jay. He woke up on the forest floor with amnesia.”

“We were hoping you could help us to test if he is fae considering,” L said.

Bug looked confused.

“O…k. Why not have your nonfae husbands help?”

“Roman is looking through witch books with nana to see if they can find more info on what may have happened to Jay, and Patton is at the bakery.”

“We, uh, didn’t want to interrupt him,” V said.

Bug smiled a little and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll get some stuff from inside and I’ll meet you in the back yard.”

 He took a step back to the house and then turned to L again.

“Am I hiding that you’re here from mom and dad?” Bug asked a little quieter.

L sighed. “I just did not want to worry them.”

Bug nodded. “Alright.” Then he went back into the house. Janus followed the two fae around the house to the back.

Janus wanted to ask about L and his brother’s relation, but he wasn’t sure if he should.

Then again, he wanted to understand what this test would pertain.

“So…your family is human?” Janus asked.

L gave Janus an unreadable look.

“…yes. I am a changeling. My parents were able to get my brother back from the faery who left me with them, but they refused to give me back.”

Janus tilted his head, having never heard of such a thing.

“How did they manage that?”

“I believe there was a variety of factors. For one, they had armed the house up with faery charms, so she was unable to go inside or really outright do anything to them despite their refusal.”

“Oh wow.”

Janus couldn’t help but wonder what kind of people his parents were to be willing to keep a changeling child like that. He was almost afraid to ask why they chose to, out of fear that would offend him.

“and yet…you represent the seelie court now,” Jay said instead.

After a moment L nodded. Before he could ask more careful questions about that, L’s brother came back out holding some different things.

“Ok, hopefully these will do it. Although this could be difficult, as I am assuming we do not want to cause harm, and most ways to tell if someone is a faery when you’re not fae or a witch, is by wards.”

“Actually, that reminds me. Do you think it would be helpful to have your boyfriend come over? Since you’re trying to figure out what’s going on, and his double sight could be helpful,” L said.

Bug seemed unsure.

V seemed hesitant. “Only if he’s comfortable with it.”

“I get the sense he is still freaked out by this Wickhills magical stuff,” Bug said.

L pondered.

“V, do you know if anyone ever looked at your brother through a hag stone?”

V tilted his head then shook it.

“As far as I know, no. I didn’t let Grettie or her family get anywhere near him.”

“So we don’t know if his appearance from double sight would have a similar affect to seeing V,” L mumbled.

“Um, excuse me-“ Janus waved a hand to get their attention. “I’m confused. What are you talking about here?”

Bug seemed confused, but L adjusted his tie and turned to Janus.

“We discovered that my brother’s boyfriend has something called double sight. Basically, when he wears an iron ring that he has, on a specific hand, he is able to see past magical glamor, and can essentially see the magical auras of fae, witches, and those who were blessed by a fae gift. A hagstone is a special type of rock with a hole in it that has a similar affect if one were to look through it.”

“…okay. And why are you concerned about me being seen through it?”

L sighed.

“Because, my brother’s boyfriend freaked out upon seeing V’s true form with his double sight, and as we don’t know your origin, we do not know what he may see and if it would freak him out similarly.”

Bug then said, “I can at least ask him, and we’ll just have to try and be careful. Maybe it’ll be helpful if we’re aware to help him out the moment anything seems off. He’s trying to get more used to these things, since yall are part of my family. In fact, he might even be glad to feel helpful, as he probably still feels somewhat awkward around you guys.”

V nodded and L shrugged. Bug smiled. “Cool, I’ll ask him, and we can start while we wait.”

“Why do you call him bug anyways?”

They jumped a little at the question and looked at him. Janus immediately felt sheepish. That seemed kind of random given their previous topic of conversation. It’s not like that was something he needed to know. Bug rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s just kind of a nickname from when I was kid. Like how I call him Berry.”

Janus snorted a little, then composed himself.

“Alright, that’s cute.”

L blushed a little at that. V smiled with some mirth.

“I do believe you may be distracting us though.” L said then. Janus gaped. He wasn’t really doing it on purpose. V narrowed his eyes some, before L patted his hand.

“I am suggesting it’s a nervous thing dear, nothing else.”

V relaxed a little at that. Bug looked between the three of them, seeming unsure.

“How about we go over this first?”

They nodded.

“Jay, do you know anything about fae wards?” Bug asked him. Jay’s eyes widened, having not expected the brother to ask him something directly.

“Um, I am not sure actually. I mean, I must know some things, as I could tell L was a changeling when I saw your similar appearances.”

“Hm.” Bug grabbed one of the things he brought out.

“Uh,” he looked at the other two fae there, “Did you two want to like back up or something?”

Okay, that was a nerve-racking statement.

V scoffed. “I am the lord of the forest. I can likely handle human versions of faery wards.”

L nodded a little, “I will probably be ok. I would not put myself in harm.”

Bug still seemed unsure, but he nodded. He held out a daisy. Janus looked at the daisy, then looked back up at Bug with a raised eyebrow.

“What-“

“Just, come a little closer.”

Janus sighed and rolled his eyes and he walked up to the daisy held out. He squinted and bent towards it. Almost immediately he wrinkled his nose as a sudden itchiness hit him. Bug stepped back just in time to avoid getting sneezed on.

“Okay, so that’s one.” Bug said, throwing the daisy back away from him.

Janus sighed.

“Oh? and that’s a sign of allergies as well, I would think.”

Bug shrugged. “Yeah, that’s why it’s one of the less harmful deterrents. Ah, here’s one that can’t be put off as an allergy.”

He held out a jar of honey.

“Honey is known to cause good neighbors to get drunk.”

“I’m sorry what?” Janus asked in bewilderment. He looked around at the others who nodded.

“I am not sure how you  would feel about that, though,” Bug continued.

“Perhaps we should go with a different one?” L asked. Bug nodded.

“Here’s another one that can’t be explained any other way, seeing as I am not a witch. Kids used to torment us with this one,” Bug said and then he proceeded to take his shoes and socks off. Janus looked on with furrowed brows. Bug then turned his socks inside out and started to put them back on. Janus was about to ask what the brother was doing, when in a blink, suddenly the brother was gone. Janus jolted and looked around.

“What…the hell”

L and V shared a knowing look.

“Did-did you see where he went? Wha-how”

Suddenly the brother reappeared, startling Janus again.

“Well, that answers that.”

“…what?”

Bug finished putting his footwear back on.

“Humans turn their clothes inside out to hide from the view of fae.”

“…what?”

“In other words,” L stepped forward, “If he disappeared for you when he turned his socks inside out, that’s a sign that you are, after all, a fae.”

“…why would that even work anyways?”

V half-smiled at that. “Do you really expect us to be able to explain why every magical happenstance with faeries happens?”

Janus paused then shrugged. He…wasn’t sure what to make of this. It made sense, sort of , given what they had already said, with observation. Somehow, it didn’t sound right though.  How would he not feel like he was? Maybe he should ask L more about his changeling situation, that was the closest thing he could think of.

“Jay?” L asked.

“Hmm?” Janus looked up. L looked at him with concern.

“Are you alright?”

Janus frowned. He didn’t know how to answer that.

“Hey,”

They looked over to V, who was looking up from a silvery rectangular device he had been leaning over and fluttering his fingers across for some reason.

“I was letting them know what we found. Wren just got off work, so Ro suggested we all meet up at a picnic, by twin cliff falls, like we used to. How would you feel about that?” V asked.

Janus narrowed his eyes. “…a picnic?”

“Yeah. Ro likes to throw together picnics for us, although he doesn’t do that as much since we moved into our house in the woods together. He has also invited Remus. Cricket, would you care to come as well? Your boyfriend can meet with us there.”

Bug smiled at that.

“Sure, that sounds fun. I kind of thought that spot was a place just the four of you liked to go to.”

V shrugged.

“It was, but it’s still a nice spot. I don’t really mind.”

Bug nodded. “Alright, I’ll send him the invite. Do we need to bring anything?”

“I don’t think so, but I can ask. You know, you are in that group chat too.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Janus asked. They looked at him.

“How did he communicate the picnic thing to you?”

V frowned. “Ah, he texted us.” V said, and wiggled the device he was holding. “On the phone.”

“…text? and that does not look like a phone to me.”

They all shared looks.

“Ah, it’s a newer type of phone. And texting is like sending a typed message through it. Here, I’ll show you,” V carefully showed him the flat part of his device, that had blinking words on it.

Janus’ face pinched, as he had trouble wrapping his head around this device.

“W-“

“How about we talk more about this when we get there, yeah?” Bug cut in. Janus shrugged. He was just confused though.

“Ok, cool. I’ll go tell mom and dad what we’re doing.”

“And yes, Bug, it’s fine to let them know we’re going there for a picnic.”

Bug nodded before he headed back into the house.

Chapter Text

It was a nice spot.

Ro, Wren, and Remus were already there. Apparently the seelie’s brother wanted to go with Harley there. V had been on that strange device a lot on their way there, for some reason, making Janus more curious about what he was doing.

The quaple greeted each other with lots of hugs, and affection, like they always seem to do.

Remus skittled up to beside Janus during the nauseatingly adorable greetings.

“So, how was circling the forest?” Janus asked.

Remus shrugged. “Eh, about what could be expected. Didn’t see anyone stupid enough to try anything, but I did get to cause some of my usual chaos so that was fun,”

Janus snorted a little behind his hand, causing Remus to smile a little.

“Oh, everyone we can sit down now! I’m sure we’ve all had a long day,” Wren piped up.

Remus sat next to Janus. Ro watched this but didn’t say anything. Some crunching sounded, as Bug and who must be his boyfriend, walked over to join them. Despite the distance still there, Janus could hear Bug saying to him,

“Now remember, don’t put the ring on until we say it’s ok, alright? We’ll try to be more careful this time, I don’t want you to be freaked out again.”

They made their way over to them.

“Hey there,” Bug said. He was visibly tightening his hand around his boyfriend’s.

Lo nodded at them.

“Oh, it’s good to see you again,” Wren cheered. Ro enthusiastically agreed. V just gave him a two-fingered salute.

They sat down.

“So…” the redheaded boyfriend glanced at Janus then looked back at the others expectantly.

“How are you, like, wanting to do this?”

Janus shifted, distinctly uncomfortable.

Bug squeezed Redhead's hand.

“We’ll have V behind you so hopefully that won’t be in your line of sight.”

“Or, I could even just leave if that would be better,” V offered.

“We’ll decide that when we get there,” Bug said. Ro squeezed V’s hand.

Lo adjusted his glasses and straightened up. “I suggest this be quick, and you only look at Janus, to avoid any unfortunate sights. Thomas, and the rest of us will be right here to help right away, need we rip the ring off of you.”

Red seemed to hesitate about something.

“Ok…what about-“ He glanced sideways briefly, as though wondering how to ask. Somehow, the others caught on. Remus snorted.

“Oh, I seriously doubt I would spook ya to the same extent. Despite the drivel that comes out of my mouth, I am only a seelie, not the spooky unseelie ruler, no offense spider princey,”

“It’s alright I suppose.”

Red still seemed unsure but he nodded.

“Okay…”

Janus, understandably, felt very awkward. Was he supposed to do anything?

Red nodded, seemingly to himself before he put the ring on. He took a breath.

  So, he’s just going to stare at me?

Janus shifted a bit.

Red’s face was hard to read, although it wasn’t complete terror. He pinched his face, almost like he was confused by something, but he did hold Thomas’ hand tighter and leaned into him.

“What are you seeing?” Lo asked.

“Are you good?” Bug asked his boyfriend.

“I- it’s kind of hard to describe to be honest. It feels like it keeps shifting.”

“Shifting?” Ro asked, “How?”

“I…don’t know. Like the form is not very consistent, or not steady in one shape.”

“Hm, interesting,” Lo muttered.

“Can you try your best?” V pushed.

“Hmm…It’s like, there is a constant moving cloud of black, similarly to how V had looked, but not as over encompassing as his was. And sometimes it is mainly floating in a silhouette or shadow around him. The darkest part though, is definitely here,” Red them gestured at the side of Janus’ face with the snake scales on it.

“Hm,”

“Ok, you don’t have to keep it on.”

Bug slipped the ring off of his boyfriend, who let out a sigh. He still didn’t look utterly terrified, but he looked confused and wary. Lo turned to Ro.

“Do we know anything about what that could mean?”

Ro tilted his head and hummed. “Hmm,  I can’t say I remember hearing about that particular description as what one could see through a hagstone. However, based on what I do know about double sight, and true forms, I would say his description implies something transformative took place.”

“Transformative?” Wren asked.

V nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. I don’t have a grand working knowledge of glamor, since I rule the forest, and having not left it much before meeting you all, I had not had much need to disguise my fae features. So, I would not know much about it. I don’t think I have heard of quite such a transformation before though. Certainly not at the fundamental state.”

“Since Dee was the more skilled fae in transformation magics, in a way it makes sense, if he was involved in whatever this was,” Ro said,

“Which would imply that Jay had been put to sleep before-“ Remus said, then stopped,

“Before the Serpent King’s defeat,” Lo finished for him.

He tried to keep going to avoid the awkward moment that was about to seep in,

“I suspect, that if we continue to look into the possibilities, Of Jay possibly having gone through some sort of transformation, perhaps it could help us uncover the mystery behind his missing memories. Maybe it could even spark some memories simply by looking into this, similar to what Em- er, the Heart Healer had suggested to us.”

“Uh, who is that?” Janus asked, choosing to focus on what he could ask about, as there was a lot being discussed there.

“He’s our therapist friend,” Wren said, “Who would probably be good for you to see at some point, considering the circumstances you are in-“

“Love, maybe now is not a good time for that,” V cut in.

Janus wondered what that was about.

Lo cleared his throat. “Given this possible discovery, I have an idea for another way we could investigate.” Lo gestured toward Janus. Janus furrowed his brows, unsure what he was asking.

Remus leaned in, “I think he wants one of your snake scales as a sample.”

Lo shifted, “Er, yes. That is what.”

Janus, almost subconsciously, reached up to touch the snake side of his face. He got a sinking feeling from thinking about a part of himself in something lab related.

“Don’t snake scales occasionally come out, like hair, so it would likely not hurt if you were to pick one of the loose ones?”

“I suppose…” Janus considered hesitantly.

“Specs, do you really think you know how to mix science and magic? V, do you know of anyone who does the two?”

“I cannot think of anyone, although maybe we use a different term. I am sure Bell would be willing to help.”

Ro seemed exasperated, before he sighed.

“May I as well?”

They were talking amongst themselves about it, much to Janus’ discomfort, which someone did take notice of.

“Hey! Since we’re here, how about we take a dip in the water!” Remus announced. They paused to look at him. Remus’ attention was focused on Janus though.

“What do you think? We won’t be able to cross the water, but it could still be fun.”

“…but Re, we didn’t exactly bring any swim wear,” Ro said.

“Pfft,” he waved him off. “You humans and your clothes for different things.”

Remus grabbed Janus’ wrist and started to tug Janus towards the river’s edge.

“But Remus, we hadn’t-“

“I’m sure you can figure that out after a bit of water time. Half of his face is made of scales, maybe one will come out while we’re over there,” Remus said, then gave Patton an expectant look, before they left the group. It wasn’t far from where they had been sitting.

“Remus, I don’t”

“Oh, you got a lotta clothes there, which by the way, very turn-of-the-century of you. I’m sure you can manage to find some layer you are comfortable getting wet in.” He then leaned in,

“Besides, you looked like you could use a break from all of that.” He leaned up again, with a bit of a softer smile.

Janus blinked at him, unsure how to respond, although he really appreciated the gesture. Then the mood changed rather quickly as Remus started to disrobe, right there.

“Whoa!” Janus exclaimed, closing his eyes and turning around.

“A bit of a warning would have been nice.”

Janus was surprised he didn’t hear any exclamations from their group, perhaps they were caught in a conversation.

Remus snickered.

“Ya know, sometimes I forget how much you don’t act fae.”

Janus pursed his lips, wanting to give him a look, but not willing to risk it yet.

“What do you mean?”

Remus hummed. “Just things like, concern about modesty. Lo can be like that too, although he was raised by humans so.”

Janus found himself start to carefully take his hat off, and unbutton his shirt.

“So, what do you think that says about me then?”

Janus asked. Remus was quiet for a moment. Janus almost turned to him, but he still wanted to wait. The last thing he needed was to get even more flustered by the green man, especially when they were talking about something like that.

“…that you’re not what I’d expect.”

Before Janus could ask about that, he heard a shout and then a loud plunge. The spray of water hitting Janus jolted him to look. Remus came to the surface and snickered.

“You’re wet!”

Janus gave him deadpan look, before he shook his head. He sat down by the edge of the river, and started to take his shoes off again. Then he hesitated with how much of his lower clothes should he take off before getting in.

Remus got closer to the edge, right by Janus.

“You’re on a time limit before I just pull you in.”

Janus huffed.

“C-could you look away for a moment?”

Remus laughed a little, but turned around.

Janus quickly got his pants off, and tried to cover himself by getting into the water quick, but he was not the steadiest and pretty much fell in. Remus immediately wrapped his arms around Janus, and helped him back to the surface.

“Goodness. Are you ok?”

Janus coughed a little.

“I think so.”

 He squinted and blinked until the water dripped away from his eyes. Then he looked around. Janus felt the warm arms of Remus still holding him, which made his breath catch. Remus chuckled at that.

“You good?”

“I believe you already asked that.”

“Not directly.”

Janus sighed, ”You faes.”

Remus paused. “You say that almost as though you do not feel you are one, like Lo suggested.”

Janus thought.

Remus shrugged, “Well we were here for a distraction so,” Remus let go, although Janus found he could manage to stand.

It didn’t take long for a splash fight to break out, Janus laughing the whole time.

The four just watched Remus and Jay for a moment, after Remus tugged him to the river.

Logan had clearly not expected Remus to drag Jay off like that, he seemed baffled.

“Alright…” He cleared his throat, the other three turned back to him.

“That does remind me of something I wanted to discuss but was unsure how to do so sensitively around Jay.” He looked to Roman.

“Do we think this possible discovery, from Harley’s double sight, negates our resurrection theory?”

Roman hesitated. “It’s hard to say. This certainly points more towards a type of transformation than a reincarnated person though.”

“However, both are still magical possibilities that we have not seen before, so are therefore impossible, or just rare which weakens our ability to get information on them,” Virgil continued for him. “I could tell from Bell’s reaction to Jay as well, although I can always ask again.”

“Plus, there would be some sort of clear sign of a reanimated body, rather than the seamless appearance Jay has,” Roman added back. Virgil nodded.

“In what way?” Thomas asked.

“Well,” Roman gestured to Patton. “Patton’s reanimated rabbit from the graveyard is a good example.”

 “There is no fool proof way to bring back the dead, there would always be something off.”

They thought for a moment.

“I still think analyzing one of his snake scales will take us in the right direction,” Logan mumbled.

Thomas nodded.

Patton then said, “Yeah, but couldn’t you tell why Remus pulled Jay away when you started talking about that?” He glanced to them wading in the river, then back.

“It was making him uncomfortable. I know there are a lot of uncertainties for us, with him being here, and he brings back a lot of memories, but I still think we need to treat this with gentleness as though he were any other person, magic or not, who is in need of help. It’s only fair to him.”

Logan nodded slowly at that. Virgil seemed pensive. Roman bit his lip, and looked over at Remus.

“I’m worried about him,” Roman said, “I’ve noticed the way he acts different when he is around Jay. It’s strange, given our history with Dee. Not in the way I would have guessed. I’m sure he thinks of similar things that I do when I see Jay, how could he not be? I don’t know if this is good for him.”

“I can understand why you would be concerned,” Logan said, and placed a hand over Roman’s wrist.

“Maybe it’s not as bad as you think though. Besides, we are all right here to protect him should things go wrong.”

“That does bring up the question though, what would we do if our fears are right, and this is in some way the Serpent King back but with amnesia? Should we come up with a plan?”

Virgil sighed. “This balance with uncertainties is frustrating.” Logan hummed in agreement.

“As bad as I feel about this, I think we should continue having multiple types of investigating going on, for everyone’s sake just in case. Given how he reacted earlier from the mentions of the one he looks like, I don’t think he would take it well.”

“Pretty sure it would get him to freak out,” Patton added softly. He didn’t like hiding anything from the person they were helping, especially when he was already scared, but he understood where they were coming from.

“Let’s bring up the scale thing in a gentler and less intrusive way next time. And, I would like to discuss the possibility of Emile helping.”

They continued on from there for a bit.

Chapter Text

The light of the sky dimmed as sunset blended into twilight. Janus was leaning against the side, breathing from their hyper water play. He looked up at the sky and blinked upon realizing how much time had passed. He had sort of expected the others to join them at some point. He started to turn back to look at them, but stopped as he heard water movement. He turned to see Remus walking over to him, the water rippling from him as he moved. There was an…unreadable look on his face. He seemed to be focused on Janus now. Janus’s breath hitched and he felt his face get warm. There was something about the look, like there was something almost tangible that was making Janus fluttery. He wasn’t really sure what to do as the water sloshed as Remus came closer. He just looked back.

Remus stood right in front of Janus. As he leaned forward, Janus was suddenly hit with the realization that Remus was apparently not wearing any clothes, which made Janus squeak.

Remus slowly put a hand up to the scaley side of Janus’s face. He moved his fingers across the scaley cheek, and his thumb came up to pinch at something with his index finger. Then he drew the pinched fingers away from his face. It didn’t even hurt, Janus just felt the texture of the scale against the others as Remus slid it out.

“Ah,” Remus said, “So I was right about a scale coming lose while we were in the water.”

Remus looked at the scale he had pulled for a moment. Remus hadn’t moved any further away from Janus. Janus could feel the warmth of him against every point of contact. It gave him a squirmy feeling. Remus placed the scale on the bank and then turned back to Janus, that look back. Janus found he somehow wanted to melt into it, even if he couldn’t quite identify it. This also made him realize than he was pinned to the side of the stream.

Remus leaned his face closer, Janus hyper aware of when he could feel Remus’s breath on his face. Their lips were a couple of centimeters apart when-

“Remus!”

They both jumped at the knight’s exclamation. Janus yelped, not that he would admit it.

Remus shuffled to the side to look at Ro. Janus looked down shyly, not really sure what that was.

“Yeah?”

“It’s…getting kind of late. We should probably head back.”

Remus must have nodded.

“Yeah, alright.” Remus got out of the river.

Janus stayed for a moment still looking down.

“Hey.”

Janus blinked up. Remus was clothed again and held out a hand.

“Need a hand?”

Janus twitched a smile and accepted the help. Then discovered abruptly than Remus was really strong. Janus ended up getting pulled out of the stream by one arm and fell clumsily into Remus’s chest. Remus chuckled a little at the no doubt blush Janus had.

“Here,” Remus held up what was probably supposed to be a towel made of dry moss.

“I uh didn’t think about cold and wet after we got out. Snakes like get cold, right?”

Janus snorted but accepted the moss towel.

“Yes, although I’m sure that would have been cold for me either way.”

Janus dried himself off, and then got dressed as soon as he was dry enough.

They made their way back to the others and Lo came over to them.

“Jay, I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable when I asked about the snake scale thing.”

Janus shuffled his feet a bit.

“Thank you.” He wanted to say it’s ok, but he wasn’t entirely sure what about it upset him so much. Lo did not comment on that though, and simply nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“Let’s head home. We can talk more tomorrow.”

Remus paused. “Um, actually, I don’t think we should all head to your place.”

Lo blinked. “What?”

Remus started to fidget. “Uh, I think maybe Jay should stay with me?”

Lo’s expression turned confused. “Why?”

Remus sighed. “Because, it was pretty obvious how much we were fifth and sixth wheelin’ yall. He might feel safer in a fairy dwelling rather than just on a hammock outside anyways, and I know yall think you wouldn’t be able to fit him inside your house..”

Lo pursed his lips and looked at his partners.

V stepped over to them,

“You wouldn’t be unsafe on my property.”

Remus twisted his face a bit.

“Honey,” Wren put a gentle hand on V’s shoulder.

“I think he’s more referring to a feeling of personal safety. You of all people can understand feeling anxious, right?”

V frowned a little, but didn’t argue.

“And you’re saying, “ Lo started, “That he would feel safer with you?”

Remus’s eyes widened a little. He glanced at Janus and then back.

“Well, in that this way we wouldn’t be encroaching on your space anymore.”

Lo frowned at that. “Remus, you’re not-“

“Ah, can’t hear you, it’s getting dark. Let’s go Jay-Jay!” Remus grabbed Janus’s wrist and started to skip a bit. A bit away Remus stopped and looked at Janus.

“Er, I probably should have asked if that’s what you wanted, huh?”

Janus bit his lip and thought for a moment, trying to figure out why the thought made him feel so squirmy. He shrugged. “It’s fine… In a way it makes sense, I didn’t know if I wanted to continue to stay with those four, although I will admit I did not expect you to offer your place.”

It’s not like Remus ever mentioned where he lived anyways.

Remus tilted his head.

“Why’s that?”

Janus shrugged.

“I don’t know, because we haven’t known each other that long? I can’t think of anything I would have done for you to want to offer?” Janus looked away a bit. “Plus…everyone I’ve encountered here seems to see someone else when they see me, I have no reason to believe it’s still not like that with you.”

Remus didn’t respond for a moment. Janus heard the soft step of Remus step closer.

“Let’s get going, alright?”

Janus followed as Remus started walking away.

Many thoughts going through Janus’s head. They mainly revolved around how something was unsaid earlier, and the moment at the river earlier. Janus would be alone with Remus. He felt…something about that. It was hard for him to pinpoint. Whatever started to happen earlier, wouldn’t be interrupted by the others this time.

They stopped in front of what was a naturally grown dwelling.

Remus scratched the back of his neck. “Er, sorry if it’s a bit tight, I set this up for one fae, ya know?”

Janus nodded. Remus let him in. There wasn’t much. The moss smell was strong though. Janus found his attention drawn to a pretty green little bird in a cage.

“Bastard!” She called out. “Bastard pretty bird! Gimme a kiss!”

Janus couldn’t help a small smile at the bird.

“Lovely bird.” He looked over to see Remus, frozen. A strange look on his face.

“…Remus?”

Remus shook his head, and gave Janus a strained smile.

“You like her, huh?”

Janus frowned a little. “Yes, of course.”

Remus went over to the bird, pet her, and fed her. He quickly walked back to Janus, and didn’t acknowledge the bird anymore. Something was strange about that. He didn’t like the feeling it gave him.

“So, I can grow something for you to sleep on. Admittedly, it’s mainly moss that I can grow.”

Janus remembered how he had rejected a similar offer the previous night. He wasn’t going to do that this time.

“It will do,” He said simply.

Remus quickly sprung up a big poofy lump of moss, much bigger than the previous one he had used.

“I can start getting Eulalia down so she doesn’t disturb us.”

He quickly went over to do that. Janus wanted to ask more about the bird, but something about Remus’s reaction had him hold his tongue. He didn’t seem to dislike the bird, so what was it?

Remus was then back at his side, he moved fast.

“So, uh, don’t like snakes get cold easily? Like, I dunno if the moss blankets will be warm enough for ya, I naturally run hot since I’m a summer after all.”

“Remus…are you asking if I’d want you to share a sleep space again?”

Remus shrugged. “If you want to.”

Janus looked at him.

“…why do you want to? You actively don’t mind being close to me, I don’t understand after everything I’ve witnessed since waking up.”

Remus looked at him, then stepped up to him carefully.

“Does there have to be a clear reason?”

Janus’s breath caught at Remus’s closeness.

“I often don’t pay much mind to thought unless it’s related to survival. As long as it won’t get me killed,” he grasped Janus’s wrist, “I go for what I want.”

A warm feeling was coming over Janus again.

“As a fae, I know how time can be. We don’t understand much about what’s going on right now. I think you know though, what we are feeling.”

Janus had trouble putting it to words, wanting to argue, but something about what he said seemed right. There was so much he didn’t know right now. So what if this was something they are drawn for. After everything, Janus was finding he might be okay with it.

Remus looked at Janus’s lips and back to his eyes, a silent question. Janus took a breath and nodded.

Remus came forward, his hands went to the sides of Janus’s head, and slipped his lips against Janus’s. Janus closed his eyes, and jolted a bit in surprise at the feeling. Then he tried to follow Remus’s movements. It became clear rather quickly that Remus had more experience in whatever this was. He drew his hands up and down Janus, and started to touch him even more, pulling him closer. Apparently his enthusiasm lead to him accidentally toppling them into the moss plush. Janus drew away from the kiss and eeped as he fell. Remus’s eyes widened and he gave Janus a sheepish smile.

Janus couldn’t meet Remus’s eyes, feeling how much he was blushing.

“Um, maybe, we should get to sleep now?”

There was no way he would be able to get to sleep anytime soon with how his heart was hammering.

There was a pause.

“Uh, yeah. Right. Of course.”

He felt Remus get off of him. Janus tried to catch his breath. Remus flopped back onto the moss cushion, only jolting Janus a little, and brought over a moss blanket anyways.

“Just in case. Don’t tell the others how careful I’m being, they’ll think I was brain swapped.”

Janus smiled.

Chapter Text

Of course, even with all that, Janus would still wake up against Remus.

As embarrassing as that was, part of him didn’t want to move. Thoughts nagged him about there being so much unsaid from the others around him. This included Remus. Yet, it was easier to pretend things were fine while here like this.

-

“C’mon Jay, try it. I have a feeling you’ll like it.”

Janus looked at the drink in front of him that Wren got him. He’d called it a milkshake.

“Why are we doing this again?”

Wren sighed, but he was still smiling.

“Sounds like a good conversation to have with Lo later. He loves those types of topics.”

Janus hmmed. He then took a cautious sip. His eyes widened as the drink hit his tongue.

“Well?”

Janus’s lips twitched into a smile. He then started to suck the milky drink down. Wren giggled.

“Seems like you like it,” Wren said.

Janus emphatically nodded. Remus snickered next to him. He had his own that was green-colored for some reason. The quaple seemed to alternate with who would spend time with him. Virgil was there the least with princely duties. Remus always tagged along though.

Wren continued, “If this is your reaction to a vanilla milkshake, I can’t wait to see what you think of the other flavors. Th-“

“Yes.”

Wren blinked.

“Hm?”

“I want to try others.”

“Heh, right now?”

Janus started to nod but then paused.

“Uh, I mean…I don’t really know how much they cost, so-“

But then Wren waved him off.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that sweetie.”

They left the park that they had been at to go back to the milkshake place.

“Okay. So, I don’t have all the flavors here, but I have a good amount.”

Janus stared at the several milkshake options in front of him. Remus was wiggling in place also staring at them.

“Uh, what’s in them?”

“Oh! Like the flavors? Silly me, I should have started with that.”

He then proceeded to list the flavors he had gotten as samples for Janus. Many of which Janus had never heard of.

“I didn’t get any red ones, just in case-“

“In case of what?”

Wren hesitated.

“Well, there’s a certain employee that at times has incorrectly given a red berry drink, which is not good for fae.”

Janus was aghast. “Wha, that is such a stupid thing to do.”

“I’ll fight them,” Remus muttered.

Wren laughed a little nervously.

“Remus no,” He said with a sigh. “Lo doesn’t want that. Some people are just mean.”

“Even still, you would think survival instincts would kick in. It’s just plain dumb to do something like that to a fae. They are so much more powerful than humans. Honestly,” Janus said.

Wren gave him a look for a moment.

“Well, I mean Lo wouldn’t do anything. At least on purpose.”

“I just mean in general.”

Wren hmmed. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”

He seemed to ponder something for a moment.

“Well anyways, there is still plenty of options here! Go ahead and try one.”

Janus kind of wished he could see what they looked like to decide if they seemed appetizing. Well, he could always open the lid and look before trying them.

“Oh, I don’t actually know if fae can get sick from drinking too many of these. I probably should have asked Vee earlier.”

Janus simply shrugged. He only took a swig of most of the ones he tried.

Most of them were good. There was one that he had to just keep drinking though because gosh was the taste exquisite. Wren giggled.

“I guess that’s the one. Which one is that?”

“Butterscotch I think you said?”

“Oo, those are very sweet. I can see why that would be your pick.”

Janus hmmed and continued sipping.

“That is also a flavor that has been around for a while.”

The trio turned to see Lo approaching them. Remus waved wildly at him.

“Hey, Snowmelt! What brings you here?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing. Looks like you found a fun endeavor to explore.”

Wren smiled big.

“Yeah! I mean, sweets are fun anyways. I figured it would be nice.”

Lo smiled at him and nodded.

“Yes, that makes sense. As long as you don’t overdo it of course.”

“He’s a fae, Lo!”

 “That doesn’t negate the good practice of nutrition. Also, you are not.”

“I’m not drinking them all! I just wanted to give him samples.”

Lo’s lips twitched up.

“I see. And what did you plan to do with the rest of them?”

Wren shrugged.

“I’ll drink them!” Remus started to grab for one when Lo picked it up.

“I doubt you need that much either.”

Remus pouted at him.

“We can share them,” Wren said. “Here, you can bring one to Vee.”

He said, handing one of them to him. Lo rolled his eyes fondly.

“Very well. You might want to get the others refrigerated quickly. Their rate of melting is probably faster than how soon you can pass them all off. You’ll end up throwing them out.”

Wren stuck his tongue at him before Lo left again. Wren sighed.

“Well, let’s take these I suppose. Hopefully, there’s room in my parents’ fridge.”

Janus and Remus helped Wren with the drink carriers as they left. Remus was still snickering. So Janus wouldn’t be surprised if the other had sipped from the milkshakes he was holding anyways. Janus drank from his own as they went.

Wren’s parents were busy, Janus supposed running the farm or something. It sort of felt like the group that found Janus was taking turns watching him. Which, felt kind of embarrassing in a way. Like he was being babysat. He was an adult, they shouldn’t find this necessary. He was sure it was their way of trying to help. He didn’t know much about himself at this point or what he would have done during the day anyways. It was nice in a way to have Remus often tag along though. Even if there was still some sort of tension there, one that was different. Weird. Not the kind Remus smirked at. Janus could tell there were things he still wasn’t being told. He wasn’t sure how much they actually related to him though. This whole situation just kept being confusing.

“Ok!” Wren said after they put what was left of the milkshakes away. Remus had indeed sucked up the ones he was holding, so the others managed to fit. “Let’s check out some other fun things to do around town. Admittedly…there isn’t a lot. But we make up for it with companionship!”

Janus couldn’t help a snort at that. Wren smiled a little sheepishly.

“Yeah, I know. But hear me out, we can have a good time.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt you,” Janus said, somehow believing it. More from the other’s enthusiasm though.

At first, they just walked around while Wren chattered on about the different things he would do with his loves. Mainly the two more human-like ones he had apparently grown up around. It seemed that locations could be hard to track in Wickhills though. Something about areas continuing to move? Janus didn’t really get it. Wren was right about there not being much to do though. Nothing about what he said stuck out to Janus. Nothing really seemed familiar. He figured this was a bad town to have amnesia in if there were inconsistencies. Occasionally they had to change direction though if a house had too many fae-defense charms though. Apparently, those always gave Lo a hard time.

There was the park. That Wren had brought them to drink their milkshakes at originally. Lo used to hang out there by himself apparently before he befriended Wren. Same with Wren. The place they got milkshakes, so Janus had already seen those places. A library. Janus wasn’t sure if he wanted to go in or not though.

They passed the graveyard at one point. Wren briefly described it. Something changed in his face though, before he kept walking past. Janus figured it wasn’t worth pushing. He doubted there would be anything significant there anyways.

They ended up back at Wren’s house sooner than anticipated.

“Lo and I liked to do puzzles. I don’t think that’s contingent on a specific place. Later we can ask Vee about a faery game he likes.”

Janus nodded. Remus had started to inch closer as they traveled. He would have interesting bouts of loud chaotic to a strange calm quiet.

“We could watch something?” Wren suggested.

Janus shrugged.

“There’s some things that Lo likes. I like to go to cartoons like my friend Em. Oh! How about some classic Disney? That’s usually a good idea.”

Janus raised an eyebrow. “Uh, sure?”

Wren smiled. “I’ll go set that up. Remus have you had popcorn yet? Is it something you like?”

“Hmm, dunno. I’d probably eat it though hehe.”

Wren smiled at him fondly.

“Alright. I’ll do that. Feel free to sit at any of the couches or chairs in front of the tv.”

Janus made his way over. Remus was practically against his side as they say on the couch.

“Uh, you good?” Janus asked him. Remus blinked and tilted his head.

“It’s just, I know I don’t know all your tells or anything, but it seemed like something was wrong to me.”

Remus gnawed on his lip a little, as though he was unsure of something. Janus reached up to pull his lip away but paused before touching him, unsure. Like he tended to be. Remus looked at where Janus’ hand was. He released his lip and grabbed Janus’ hand to kiss it. Janus giggled a little. Remus gave him a small smile. Janus did notice of course that Remus had not answered his question though. Typical fae dodging. That thought gave Janus pause. Did he do that too? He didn’t really have memories of a frustration with telling the truth.

Then again, fae were likely used to it, so maybe that didn’t mean anything.

“You’re different than him.”

Remus said suddenly, surprising Janus some.

“Different from…who?”

Remus wouldn’t look at him.

“…Dee. The one who you resemble. Former Fae King who caused a lot of hurt to a lot of people here.”

He took a breath. “I was his pet you could say, also his knight. A long time ago. I figured with what we may be starting to have, you deserve to know.”

Janus scooted away some to look at Remus, who still wouldn’t meet his eye.

“…Remus, what do you mean his pet?”

He sighed. He opened his mouth to answer then paused.

“What are you doing!?” He said to behind them. Janus turned to see Wren jolt in surprise. He had one of those phone devices out, that he had been tapping on.

“Oh, I was just, answering something-“

“Do you all still think I can’t take care of myself?” Remus asked with a growl. Janus looked between the two of them confused.

“What on earth are you on about?”

Before they  could respond a door swung open

“I heard Disney movie night~” Ro sang as he entered the house.

“I just had to join.”

“Ro, you didn’-“

“Oh, it’s no trouble my sweet. I don’t have a problem hanging out with a love and a brotherly friend. I’m sure Lo at least may want to-“ Ro paused when he spotted the tension around Remus.

“Ah. I see.”

Remus crossed his arms.

“Me wanting to come to movie night doesn’t have to mean anything!” Ro exclaimed.

Then Vee appeared in his shadow thing again. Janus jumped.

“Goodness gracious!”

Vee cleared his throat. “Sorry…”

Remus groaned. “Way to make everything awkward you two.”

“Hey now,” Wren started, “We didn’t-“

“Oh can it, songbird.”

“Hey, Remus. There’s no need-“

“Shut it. I’m tired of this.”

He turned to Janus again. “So much for the soft intimacy with trust I was going to tell you this with, but it’s worth noting at this point.”

“Remu-“

“He’s going to find out eventually!”

Remus huffed. “By pet, I mean he treated me as less than. Objectified me, or like I was a trophy. He saw me as his property, and was forceful with getting what he wanted out of me. Including getting physical if he didn’t approve, usually if he took me to be overstepping my place.”

The room got quieter.

Remus continued, “The last I saw or heard of him is when he sent me on a difficult and harrowing quest to retrieve near impossible items for him. Because I had a tendency to overdo pranks and he was annoyed with how they were affecting his new human pet.

So, the others here, who know of my history with dear Dee and how it impacted me, are worried. They think that this isn’t good for me because of your likeness to him. That it’s triggering or will take me back. It’s not their decision, but that’s how they are about this. They seem to fear-“

“Rem-“

“That you might be him. That they will have to deal with him all over again should he get his memories back. That is not what I think though.”

Janus blinked. There was a lot to process there. He looked around at them.

“Remus, Lo didn’t think he would be ready to hear that,” Vee said.

“Oh pffft. You really expect me to believe it’s not because you all are cowards?”

Wren gasped.

“Remus!”

“Save it! I’m just frustrated, ok. We aren’t going to get anywhere helping him with all these secrets and tensions. You think we can’t feel that? We’re more intuitive than you’d take us for. I’m trying to think of who we’re helping here, even if it’s not fun to hear.”

Part of Janus wanted to run away. But he didn’t know where he could go. Clearly, there was danger even if he didn’t know all of what it was. There was a very uncomfortable tension in the room now. He was probably supposed to say something. There was so much going through his head then though.

“So…you all have been keeping things from me?”

Some of them started to protest.

“You have to understa-“

“We were trying to look out for you. We didn’t know what you could handle to hear.”

“Right,” Janus muttered. “Who would respond well to the knowledge that they remind everyone they are around of a monster? That even makes the Prince of the forest nervous.”

“We’re not going to treat you differently because of that-“

“Oh, like you haven’t already been?”

That got them quiet. He huffed. “Leave it to Remus to tell me anything around here. In fact, let’s talk,” Janus said the last part to Remus.

 “Cause he’s the only one I trust right now.”

Janus stomped into the next room, Remus nervously following. Janus sighed and faced him.

“Who do you see, when we interact Remus?”

“I see you, Jay!”

“I don’t remind you of him at all?”

When Remus didn’t answer, Janus closed his eyes.

“Jay-“

“I’m not blaming you, Remus. Just, I need a moment.”

He heard Remus walk back. Janus had to take a few breaths. Things would be different now. At least for him, since apparently, they had felt that way since the beginning. He had so many mixed feelings.

He went back into the room where the movie was set up. They were sitting around. Lo was there now too. Well, he supposed that was alright.

Janus sat back where he was on the couch. He leaned into Remus, but it didn’t feel as comfortable. He still sought him out though. The movie was Snow White apparently. Janus hadn’t heard of or seen it before. Remus gradually began to untense. Nothing was familiar from the movie. Aside from the forest setting for part of it. A sleeping curse hm? Janus wondered why the witch would do that.

The unfamiliarity was his normal now. He didn’t know if this uncertainty and now this tension would go away.

Chapter Text

Janus isn’t sure how they managed to fall asleep to the movie after all that. Maybe it was just draining. The others had to go to work. Apparently, Wren had taken off work the day prior. His parents didn’t seem to mind the accidental sleepover. Once again, they were busy with the work of running the farm so they didn’t see much of them. Janus began to think that may have been for the best considering what he had learned. He hadn’t gotten much of a chance to let himself think about what he had learned. What that could mean for himself. He wasn’t sure if he was someone for introspection anyways, although he suspected he was.

Lo had an idea for where he could go today.

“If that is alright with you of course?” Lo said. “I realize we have often told you where you would be during the day.”

Janus shrugged. “It’s fine. Not like I’d know where to go anyways.”

Lo frowned. “Yes, I know. However, hearing about Remus’s outburst from the other day had me thinking about how we have been with you. We still maintain that caution was advised. At this point though it does seem unfair to not inform you where we are investigating your situation. This is about the circumstances of your presence and amnesia after all. So, I would like to ask if you want to join me in going to Vee’s palace for an update.”

Janus blinked. “Um, yeah of course. Whatever I can learn. I’m so tired of the constant confusion. Is there like, anything I need to know about going there?”

Lo tilted his head in thought. “Stay with us? For the most part.”

Janus nodded. “How will we be getting there?”

“Well, we often get there by walking.”

“I can take Jay-Jay on a horse!” Remus exclaimed. Lo looked at him in surprise.

“What? I was a knight. I can ride a horse.”

“…do you have one with you?”

Remus pouted. “Oh right…Oh! You can get Vee to have the Autumn Lady send us some.”

“…I suppose I can ask,” Lo said. Jay saw his lips twitch into a smile though.

Somehow the request went through.

“I’ll drive, you sit behind me but wrap your arms around me for support,” Remus said to Janus.

Janus cleared his throat. “Alright then.”

The Autumn Lady, or the female knight from before, also arrived with a horse, so Lo had a ride to the fairy hill as well.

Remus swung onto the horse and held a hand out for Janus. A plant raised up under Janus as a Remus-assisted step to help Janus step up and reach him better. He almost fell into place and had to cling onto Remus for balance. Remus snickered and patted one of Janus’s arms around him.

“I gotcha Jay-Jay. I’m pretty sturdy.”

“I should hope so,” Janus muttered. Remus looked back.

“Hey, I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t. I care about you.”

Then he turned back to face forward.

They trotted quietly for a bit.

“I’m different with you, you know,” Remus said suddenly at one point.

 “than I was with him.”

Janus sat with that for a moment. He was almost afraid to ask what he meant.

“Do you think being with me is bad for you like the others fear? Because of my resemblance to him?” Janus asked.

Remus was quiet for a moment, which gave Janus some unease. Finally, he responded.

“…no.”

“You seem hesitant saying that.”

Remus sighed. “I dunno, Jay. It’s complicated. I won’t treat you differently. And I do like you. Us together is very different from when I was with him. I can’t say that I can promise I won’t ever think of him, of the bad situations when I’m with you, but I know he’s not you.”

He couldn’t exactly blame him, even if Janus didn’t really understand it.

“I don’t want you to hurt, Remus.” Janus choked a little. Remus took a breath.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Jay. I’m a big boy. I’ve been around for a while. You have enough to worry about right now.”

“That’s not gonna stop me from caring.”

He felt hands on his arms, so he looked up at Remus.

“Can you trust in me, Jay? I don’t get a lot of people who seem to trust my judgment. I’m different from the manic lovestruck fool I was before realizing my prior situation was not ideal. I don’t want to place you in one where you’d get hurt either. Ok?”

Janus sighed and squeezed Remus’s hands. “Okay,” Janus said quietly.

Remus smiled slightly and nodded. They turned to the entrance. Lo and Autumn Knight was ahead of them, but still in view to guide them. After they got off the horse, Remus looped his arm with Janus’s.

Janus found himself glancing around himself. He looked at the fae guards they passed, and around the first hall as they walked through the Faery hill. Janus subconsciously leaned into Remus more from his own discomfort. They came to what seemed to be a meeting table area. Vee and Ro were already there. Ro wore a knight getup again.

“So,” Vee started once they were all sat. “What have we found about our situation here?” He addressed the autumn knight.

“I’m afraid not much, your highness.”

“And?”

“The closest, aside from your reports, was more talk from some of the older fae.”

“Anything could be relevant,” Lo said to that.

“Well,” The Autumn said. “Some of them said the type of magic we have observed and from Jay’s accounts is not known around here in Wickhills.  But there has been talk of ancient magic, that originates elsewhere.”

“Originates where? And what about this magic?”

“They did not know much else other than that. It was not even known to be witchcraft. They were wary and chose to stay away from any hint of it, being potentially non-fae in nature. Plus, from how little we know, it was often thought to be hearsay or stories.”

“These types of stories we may need to consider after all with the roadblocks we have hit elsewhere. Can you try to find out more about where they may have heard of these unknown magics?”

“I can try…”

“You don’t expect it to be successful though?”

She hesitated. “Your highness, they were clearly very wary of this magic. This also brings up another concern I’d been meaning to discuss with you that is related.”

Vee frowned but nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“There are whispers, from those who saw Jay at the revel, and have spotted him with you and the others. Some have intentions like the first you said attacked Jay early on. Most are simply wary though, with memories of the serpent king’s reign.”

Vee nodded. “I should have anticipated such talk would occur.

“You will likely need to make an official statement about the situation.”

Vee sighed and ran fingers through his hair. “I was hoping I’d have something more substantial to be able to say about what is going on before it got to that point. Very well. I will prepare a statement.”

He stood up. “Have someone you trust look into this more. About where those faes could have learned about this other magic.”

Janus was thinking as he watched Vee. Something came over him. Janus stood up and walked over to Vee before the prince could leave the room.

“Uh, would it be helpful if I were to come while you make your statement to the fae here?”

Vee blinked at him.

“Uh, I’m not sure actually. I certainly wasn’t going to ask you to. Why, did you want to?”

Janus shrugged.

“I would like to know about the things that affect me. A statement to the fae here about myself seems like it would affect me.”

Vee nodded slowly. “I suppose you have a point.”

Lo looked over to the Autumn lady. “Is that wise?”

She appeared to think for a moment.

“…well, he shouldn’t have free reign.”

Janus scoffed at that. What did that mean?

“I am wise enough to know I shouldn’t wander all willy nilly around fae I do not know. Especially when I have been warned my appearance can be off-putting.”

“We didn’t mean it that way,” Ro said with a frown. Janus sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Might as well be though. The fact is the way I look makes people uncomfortable. I’m certainly not going to make things worse for myself. I’ll follow your leads in such a situation, but I have a right to know what is being said about me.”

They nodded. Remus smiled at Janus.

“You should be near enough to the guards that we can make sure to protect you. So there are no repeat incidents like your first encounter,”

 Vee said. Janus nodded.

“Should he say anything?” Remus asked. Vee and the Autumn lady exchanged a look.

“I say, we try to read the crowd,” The Autumn said. “See how the Prince’s statement is received, especially if they see Jay with us.”

-

Vee stood at his spot from revels to make his announcement. Not every fae in the woods would be able to be there, but enough to get the message to everyone. Vee cleared his throat. The Autumn knight, Lo, and Ro stood by him. Jay was with Wren and Remus off to the side but still on the side protected from the prince’s guards. It wasn’t as crowded as a revel would be. This felt more like a crowd though. At the revel, everyone was looking in different directions. They were all doing different things such as dancing.

At least from what Jay could remember. This time they were all facing forward, to Vee. Janus wasn’t the one ‘on stage’ but a good amount of them still looked at Jay. Not to mention the many whispers.

Vee cleared his throat.

“I’ve been informed of some mutterings regarding a recent presence in this forest. While I do not bother myself with all gossip, it seemed this one could grow were I not to mention it. To reassure the well-being of those under my reign, I’ll address this.

Yes, there has been a recent presence in the woods who shares a resemblance to the late usurping ruler. However, in the way he is now, this is not that previous ruler. I am still the reigning monarch who rules this forest. There is no foreseeable way for him to take over or do any harm to anyone how he is now. Plus, he has said himself he has no desire to. I am open to answering any questions you may have. Please know that we wish no harm to come to the fae of this forest here should you follow my peaceful rulings.”

There were many who rose hands to speak.

“Yes?”

“Who is he then? And why does he look like the former usurper?”

“Ah yes,” Vee glanced at Jay briefly. “Well, we are still learning things revolving around this newer presence. He came to me as a fae with amnesia. So his background is to be seen,”

“So did you magically mess with his memories to lower the possibility of him taking over again?” One random fae interrupted.

“You dimwit, did you forget all the witnesses to the serpent ruler’s gruesome death?”

Jay winced when he heard that. No one had told him that part about the former’s death. He’s sort of glad he didn’t know before. This brought more questions to his mind though.

The fae who interrupted scowled at the pixie who insulted him. Vee held his hands up and Ro stood between the two of them.

“Enough!” Vee exclaimed. “No, I did not magically alter anyone’s memories. And indeed, there were many witnesses to my brother’s death. I myself was there as well. We had no prior knowledge about this fae until I saw him in the woods. At this time, we do not expect him to be an immediate threat, as he has shown no sign to mean anyone harm.”

“You’re a fool then!” Someone shouted. Ro gripped the sword in his sheath and looked around.

“Who said that?”

Vee put a hand on Ro’s shoulder.

“Easy, my love. I do not expect anyone wishes to challenge me now. Not over circumstances where they do not have all the information. Especially someone cowardly enough to hide after shouting such a thing.”

Some fae in the crowd laughed at that. Vee smirked.

“Showing up appearing like the former usurping ruler does not seem to be a good sign either way,” One fae said. “The ruling gentry of the forest were unique. I haven’t seen any with similar appearances naturally. Would it not be wise to maintain guard from them anyways because of this?” She continued.

“I understand your concern,” Vee said, “and we have been watching. There is a reason we took him with us to investigate right away.”

“Took him with you!? Surely you do not mean you brought an unknown fae into the sanctum of the royal gentry yourself!?”

There was much chattering at that.

“Please, remain calm! No, I did not bring an unknown threat anywhere like that.”

“So you admit he is a threat then?” One asked.

“Okay, now you’re picking apart his words on purpose,” Another said. “Just let him finish.”

“Thank you,” Vee said. “We tried to keep him away from the forest at large as we investigated as a precaution.”

“And you still don’t know his circumstances? That seems ill-fit to me.”

“Why don’t you try and see how so easy it is?”

“Did I say it was easy? Just implied the ones in charge should be better equipped to handle such a situation.”

“Oh, like anyone could predict such a strange one.”

“The ones in power should be prepared for everything.”

There continued to be chattering.

“No one else thinks it strange they haven’t found anything? How do we know he isn’t covering? They were brothers.”

“I don’t think there was any lost love. His brother did magically induce him into a coma. Why would he protect him after that?”

“I don’t know, family can be weird.”

“He could still be hiding something he knows about the state of this serpentine fae.”

“And we expect to know everything from our ruler here?”

“Well yeah.”

“Did your parents tell you everything?”

“That is not the same. No reason to be patronizing.”

“Wow,” The Autumn Knight said. “I am shocked by how brave many of you are to speak out against his royal highness so blatantly. While right in front of him.”

The crowd quieted down again at that.

Vee sighed. “I understand a lot of the trepidation among you all,”

“How could you?”

Wren gasped. “Seriously, what is with everyone today?” Wren asked. Next to Wren was another fae companion, one who appeared to be in all white. But Janus didn’t know that one.

Vee’s expression hardened as he glanced in the direction of whoever said the last thing.

“Just say the word, your highness,” Autumn knight said, “And I’ll gladly teach everyone here a lesson. They should respect proper rulers here.”

Vee put his hand up before her. “Not yet. I want to say something.”

 Vee then spoke back to the crowd,

“How could I understand? My younger brother trapped me in a sleeping spell for a long time to take my rule, my birthright. When I awoke, loved ones I cared for were no longer around. I learned others whom I love were wronged by him. Everyone I know had some hardship that in some way related to his actions. Please do not think I would discount any of that for a moment to protect him. I do not condone execution the way he did, but it was definitely for the best of the forest that he is out of the way.

“I would not endanger my subjects. I can’t promise this will ease everyone’s worries as we still do not fully know everything that brought him here. But please know I am not against all of you. Show me how I can reassure you in any other way.”

There was quiet for a moment. Still, a few murmurs but no more argumentative exclaims.

Janus looked around. He still got looks, of course. Janus wasn’t sure what to expect. This all involved him. He wasn’t sure how much of his situation was his own doing, but it seemed only fair to try and do something about it. Vee looked like he had a lot to deal with as a fae prince. So did the others Janus had gotten to know who were connected to Vee. It could be for the best of anyone if he tried.

Janus tapped Wren on the shoulder.

“Can you see if it’s okay for me to go up there to say something?”

Janus didn’t want to just walk up there without making sure. He didn’t want to freak anyone out, considering how finicky this crowd seemed. Wren blinked at him and then nodded. He stood up and carefully walked over to where Vee was.

Janus started to tap his fingers nervously. Remus reached over and covered Janus’s hand with his own. Janus glanced over at Remus briefly to shoot him a small smile. He twisted his hand around so he could squeeze Remus’s hand back.

 Wren tapped Ro and whispered to him. Ro furrowed his brows and then whispered to Vee himself. Vee turned to Jay after he did so. Vee seemed hesitant but nodded cautiously. Ro went over to him.

“It would probably be better if you walked with me over there,” Ro muttered. Janus grimaced.

Remus leaned in, “Do you want me to come with you?” Remus asked Janus. Janus glanced up at Ro. Janus would feel better with Remus with him, but he wasn’t sure what would be better in this case. Ro hesitated. He looked around the crowd and then back to the pair.

“Remus, you know-“

“I don’t care what they think,” Remus said. Ro sighed.

“If Vee says it’s okay.”

Remus hmphed and nodded. He bounded up with Janus as the other stood up. Janus went forward at Ro’s pace. He was honestly grateful that Remus was still holding his hand. Even if he knew they were probably still getting looks. Janus tried not to look at anyone else except Vee whom he was approaching.

They stopped in front of him for a moment. Vee pursed his lips when he saw Remus there but didn’t say anything about it.

“What name would you like me to use for you?” Vee whispered. Janus hesitated. He had really only used one nickname on purpose.

“You can still use Jay,” Janus said. Janus didn’t want a nickname associated with snakes for this conversation.

“You may use the nickname Jay to refer to him," Vee said to the fae gathered,

"He would like to add some input as well.”

Vee stepped to the side. Jay cleared his throat and stepped forward. Ro stood at his other side. There was a commotion again.

Before Jay could speak,

“Traitorous hoe!”

Remus immediately glared in the direction that came from.

“Ok, who wants to come forward so I can show you just how much I am not a hoe?” He cracked his fists.

After a moment,

“That won’t disprove anything!”

“Wow, some of yall are real idiots today, hm.”

“Remus…,” Ro said tiredly.

“We are not doing this to throw insults at the Prince’s companions,” Logan spoke up.

Janus put a hand on Remus’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. Remus huffed but backed down.

After that settled some, Janus chanced speaking,

“Uh, h-hello everyone. You may call me Jay like the prince just said. I do not know a lot about what is going on. But I thought I could help bring some clarity if that helps ensure anyone about their safety.”

“His highness said you have amnesia?”

“Yes. I have some vague recollections. Such as objects I recognize or warnings I remember about certain creatures. But few specific memories about even my own life before I woke up.”

“Before you woke up?”

“Ah, yes. My first clear memory was not long before I ran into the prince. I woke up on a forest floor. Not knowing how I got there, but with a general feeling that something wasn’t right. I didn’t even know about this serpentine ruler. How could I when I didn’t even know much of myself aside from my own name? I have no desire to hurt anyone or to try and take over anyone’s rule. I just want to understand why my life is like this now. The prince, his loves, among other friends just happen to be the ones who have been helping me. “

Jay looked at Remus, who smiled back at him.

“Are the snake scales real?” Someone else asked.

“It seems like it.”

“How is that possible?”

“We’re working on figuring that out.”

“Surely there are some theories though, correct?”

Janus hesitated, “…yes.”

He wasn’t sure how much they would be comfortable sharing with everyone. What would they even need to know any ways for reassurance? That his similar presence didn’t mean a return to dark times with the serpent king.

“Does any of this connect with the prior serpent king at all?”

“That is a vague question. Also, the relevance is unclear.”

“What an evasive sort of fae answer,” One fae said with a half-smirk. Janus didn’t like it.

Janus was tempted to snap back with some sass, but it seemed like treading cautiously was still best.

“Given present company, I don’t think that’s unexpected,” Janus tried. Some laughed. Not as many as earlier.

“What have you been up to since arriving here?” Another asked. Janus hmmed.

“Mainly getting settled the best I can in an unknown place when I don’t know what would be a known place.”

Janus wanted to be honest to show he could be trusted enough to not need scrutiny every time a fae passed him. He still wanted to be careful though. Considering how the crowd had reacted to the very idea Jay might have stayed at the faery hill. He was wondering if that may have been another reason he slept in a hammock the first night.

“I followed some of the others here as they helped me to figure things out about myself. Like investigating where I woke up and trying to see if there was a way to find any other familiar places to me.”

“How do you feel about all of this?”

Janus blinked at that question. It was a bit unexpected. Particularly for a setting like this. He supposed he could try to answer.

“Well, it’s overwhelming. I am grateful for the group who found and helped me though. It is still uncertain to me when I may regain a sense of myself. But at least I have gotten to know some people I can be comfortable around while I am here. This forest seems…nice. Certainly interesting. I have grown to trust the prince and his knights more, so I am hoping you can do the same. There is always a reason to be cautious about something new. Especially if any part of it reminds you of a scary time in your life. But the prince made sure to take care of someone in his woods, despite his discomfort. I ask that you give me the same chance.

I won’t even bother anyone else if that is what you wish. I just want to find a way to make peace in the situation I’ve been thrown into. I don’t want to get involved in anything else.”

Janus had a feeling he said something right there. He got some more smiles, even if many were hesitant. Something felt eased. He didn’t know if it would last, but he hoped he helped everyone at least somewhat. Of course that didn’t answer everything. Someone went back to hand raising now that the crowd had quieted down.

“Yes?” Janus asked.

“What is your relationship to the former knight there that you are holding hands with?”

Janus glanced over to where his hand was still in Remus’s.

Janus himself wouldn’t have a problem with people knowing they could be a thing. It’s not like Janus and Remus had actually given a name to what they were though anyways. He wasn’t exactly hiding it, as they were holding hands. The insult shouted at Remus stuck with Janus though. There was clearly something more to that. Janus didn’t believe it of course, but he didn’t want to add any fuel to whatever was the cause.

Not that there was any justification for such an insult. From Janus did know of the fae though, he didn’t think one of them would have shouted such a thing randomly. Especially in front of the prince. Janus almost wished he had a chance to pick Remus’s brain. Before answering any relationship questions. So, he just stuck with,

“That’s a personal question.”

And that seemed to bring back some conflict.

“Oh, cause that doesn’t seem like a way to evade how the slutty former knight is sleeping his way up the ranks.”

“How does that work though?” Someone else asked. “The snake fae just said he wasn’t anyone,”

Not quite.

“I dunno, maybe because he was rejected by the prince? Because the royal has given special attention to the amnesiac so he’s trying through that way? Or maybe he’s just a slut who doesn’t care that his dead lover’s corpse hasn’t grown cold yet.”

“Hey now, that was a few years ago. I’d hardly say it hasn’t grown cold.”

“Time is relative, different for us fae especially if we’ve been around a while. He’s not young enough to be that naïve.”

“Okay, yall have gotten off the topic we were on,” Janus cut in. Someone muttered in the background,

“Did he just say yall?”

Janus ignored that.

“If anyone else has questions about the topic at hand, let me know. Otherwise, I’m not going to stand here and just listen to my partner get insulted like this.”

Oh, Janus thought. He actually said it. Hopefully, Remus was okay with that.

He walked away. Janus knew he was the one who volunteered to come, but honestly, he was kind of done with this. He wasn’t sure where to hang out in the meantime though. Vee tried to get the crowd back under control. They didn’t seem done.

After a moment, Ro quickly came over to where Janus was with Remus. Janus hadn’t decided where to go yet.

“Bell has control of the guard for now,” Ro said.

He seemed like he was thinking about something.

“I have an idea,” He said. “Of somewhere we can take you. That could potentially help with your memories.”

Janus furrowed his brows. “Ok?”

Chapter Text

They stood somewhere he hadn’t been to in the woods yet. In front of them was a tree with things tied to it.

Janus looked at Ro with a raised eyebrow. Ro shrugged.

“This was a place where he, Dee, would grant people’s deals. Usually at a cost. If this triggers any memories, it could be a good way to determine who you were. I would think this would be significant enough for him. Or someone who may have made a deal that really affected them.”

Janus wondered how Ro came to this possibility. He could follow the line of thinking though.

“Wait, so you think I may have made a deal with this Serpent King if I’m not him? How would that work? If this was a possibility, someone should have mentioned something before.”

Ro shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re at a point where we are just trying things now. And, Dee seems to be at the root of many new problems we still encounter now anyways.”

Ro continued. “So I stood here when I made a deal with him, and my first offer.”

“You made a deal with him?” Janus asked. Ro nodded.

“Yes. I was young, and did not make the best decisions.”

Yeah, making a deal with a fae called the Serpent King did sound ill-advised. Especially from what Janus had heard from the others about this fae. There was something familiar about that too though. A warning.

 Ro looked distant for a moment but didn’t expand on that. He moved from the spot and gestured.

“Try standing where I did. You can try standing where he was too if this doesn’t work. I’m not sure if placement matters, but if we want to simulate what could bring up a memory...”

Janus nodded. He took a breath and stood where Ro was a moment ago. He looked around and observed, trying to think if anything was familiar about this.

Actually, it was. This was hard to pinpoint though. Everything else had changed so much. But this. This place. He had been here before. A feeling of nervous anticipation poked at him, from this place. He gasped as a memory started to hit him,

 Janus stood in front of the hanging tree.

How was he supposed to even start this?

Some time passed before he heard a rustle. Janus jolted when he saw someone right there, in a hood covering their face. Not exactly a good sign.

“What do you seek, traveler?” The fae asked him.

There was something about that voice, already, that unnerved Janus.

Yet, he squared his shoulders and tried to at least put a show of confidence.

“I come seeking power.”

The fae hmmed and dashed around him.

“That is such a vague thing to ask.”

The fae laughed.

“Power in what way? Authority and money, or like those of fae and witches?”

Janus thought. He wanted something strong enough to give him a chance. Being in this strange magical town with fae made Janus feel he could almost ask for the impossible.

He looked at the hooded fae.

“I want the greatest power you can offer.”

He could take a risk. He didn’t have many other choices.

The fae looked at him in consideration.

“What would you give in return?”

“What do you want?”

The fae laughed. “Oh, you foolish mortal.”

The fae moved closer to him, facial features still obscured. Janus felt scrutinized. He did not like it.

The fae hmmed.

“Come back in a couple of weeks. I may have something for you, but I will need to prepare.”

Janus blinked. What were they up to?

“What about the price?”

“I will inform you of it at that time. Just know, this will be a huge price.”

“I don’t have a lot I am unwilling to sacrifice at this point.”

*

Janus returned wary. The townsfolk were convinced he was crazy.

Would this be a dream come true? Or a nightmare beyond his imagination?

The fae appeared to Janus much quicker this time.

“Alright, I have just the thing for you. I hope you appreciate what I’ve put in to get this right.”

“…and, the price?”

The fae uncovered enough of his face for Janus to see a half-smirk.

“I am going to do something with what I am giving you. At whatever time of my choosing.”

Janus pursed his lips. Vague was suspicious. He wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do though. Janus didn’t think there was a way for him to get out of the deal at this point. Especially with this fae going to trouble for whatever he was about to do.

Janus let out a heavy breath. He was already in too deep now. He would have to live with it.

Janus stepped toward the fae.

“Alright,” He held his hand out, “Deal.”

What happened next, Janus wouldn’t have expected.

The other held his hand and yanked him forward hard into a bruising kiss. Janus muffled a sound of surprise, and tried to pull back but found that he couldn’t. Then the fae’s hands tightened on his wrists, nails digging in to break his skin.

From his mouth, he felt something breathe into him. Along with it, came a staticky sharp cold sensation. It started spreading throughout his body.  He felt so much colder, like his skin’s natural temperature was drained.

The fae pulled his mouth away but kept a firm grip on Janus’ wrists. The feeling spread, very uncomfortable, and like his body was reorienting itself.

The birthmark on the left side of his face tingled strongly with that feeling. Strange circular textures broke out and filled it in. The cold sizzle forced his left eye shut before he blinked it back open.

After blinking for a few moments, Janus took notice of the face in front of his own, which was easier for him to see now. He gasped when he noticed the scales along their face. This made him think of the Serpent King whom he had been warned about. There was also an eerie likeness in his facial features.

Janus jerked back, the Serpent King let go and laughed.

“I know right? The resemblance is almost uncanny.” He paused and looked Janus over.

“Especially now.”

“Wha-“ Janus frantically felt his face and took note of the scales there.

“What did you do to me!?”

“Why, I simply gave you what you wanted. The most powerful I could grant you was myself, of course. “

Janus stayed sitting there, already struggling with his breathing.

“Wha-what do you mean?” Janus asked.

The serpent king clucked his tongue.

“It’s a bit hard to explain. I basically put part of me, into you.”

“Huh?”

“A transferring or transformation of sorts. It’s certainly nice to be able to almost admire myself from a different perspective.”

Janus made a face at that and stumbled back to his feet.

“What-what use would you have for making me like this?” Janus asked. Although, he realized maybe it wasn’t a good idea to ask that. The serpent King gave him a sly look.

“All in good time.” He then stretched. “Unfortunately, that did tire me, and I would rather have my full power for now, so,”

He shortly waved a hand, glimmery purple mist flew to Janus. As soon as the mist hit Janus his eyes drooped, and he dropped to the ground.

“Wha-what are you doing?”

“I still need your half of my powers, for now, so I am putting you in a sleep stasis until I can use what I have made you.”

Janus meant to protest. The serpent King continued over,

“After all, I made no promises about not doing anything to you after fulfilling the deal. I still gave you what was asked for.”

Janus’ fuzzy mind thought of betrayal and how this was not an outlook he expected, as he lost consciousness.

Janus gasped again after the memory finished.

“Jay!?” Remus ran to him. He stopped just by him. Janus took deep gasping breaths.

“I-I remembered. I *huh* I’m not him.” He looked up, to Remus and then to Roman.

“I’m not the serpent king. But he-he did this to me. I was human. I made a deal. I don’t know how he did it.”

Just then, a different sensation came over him. This one was not at all familiar. It felt like a whoosh of something went directly inside of him. He almost couldn’t breathe for a moment, overwhelmed by the strong feeling he couldn’t touch. A weird sensation all along inside of him. A slithering hiss of a laugh sounded just along his ears before he found he could not physically move.

“Ah, that is so much better than being formless.

Hello, former pets.”

- 

The duo stood in horror at hearing those words from Jay, from Dee’s lips. He smirked at the two of them. His eyes glowed yellow, a color unlike Jay had a moment ago. That had been one of the few physical differences between the two of them. Eye color.

“Wha,” Roman said. They were both frozen. Dee looked at them and raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, confused? I’m not surprised. It’s not every day you once again hear from a dead former lover. Particularly if you did no good towards their demise.”

Roman choked. Remus glared.

“What the hell is going on? Jay just said he wasn’t the Serpent king, and we already tested-“

“Ah yes, he’s not. I have just,” Dee gestured at himself with a hand. “Made use of him, as I gained from our deal.”

Remus clenched his fists and shook.

“So,” Roman started “You-“

“I was a ghost, yes Roman. Didn’t expect that when you betrayed me, hm?”

Roman winced at that. He pursed his lips. Many questions about Dee as a ghost ran through Roman’s mind. Asking them would likely not go well for him though. He knew Dee could respond with a sharp tongue when he wanted to.

“And I thought you would be happier to see me, Remus. After all, it’s been so long, and I am greatly impressed by how well you completed my quests.”

“Don’t.” Remus snipped. He struggled to control his face.

“What happened to Jay?”

Dee tutted. “Why are you so concerned about my more mortal knockoff? He’s here. I couldn’t contractually actually get rid of him. I simply utilized our situation to come back.”

Vee appeared then, next to Roman. He looked around them, guarded.

“Ah, if it isn’t the brother who let me die.”

Vee blinked at him.

“You had that coming from her. Wait-“

“Dee possessed Jay.”

“How?”

Dee sighed.

“It was quite an extensive process, procuring the perfect vessel. I hadn’t even planned it initially. It’s nice to take an opportunity I saw before me though. I’m brilliant, like that. Even if I did have to wait so long for him to awake from his slumber.”

“But why?”

“Why go through all that trouble?”

Dee spread his arms out dramatically. “I don’t like to be held down by anything. It was a perfect backup reassurance. So now, I can rebuild my kingdom again.”

“What makes you think you would have anything to go back to?” Vee asked.

“The fae of Wickhills are loyal to their Spider Prince,” Roman said. Dee stared at Roman for a moment.

“Are they?”

He looked to Vee with a knowing look. “Can you honestly say there is no chance I wouldn’t gain support when I ruled for such a long time?” He spun around. “I came back from the dead. Such a great show of power is sure to bring everyone back into their place. Surely the Unseelie will still have resentment and desire to be respected as they once were. They’ll know who is better on the throne.”

“You’re not back from the dead though,” Remus said. “You said Jay is still there. You’re just possessing him.”

Dee raised an eyebrow at him. “We may find, that won’t even be a difference. Especially when I have our power.”

Roman and Vee took on a stance.

“This will not be as easy as you think it is,” Vee said. Dee hmmed.

“We will see,” He said. And with that, he sent up a swirling mist to obscure himself as he left.

Chapter Text

“We must go back to the palace to tell the others what happened. C’mon,”

“He took Jay,” Remus said, staring off. Vee rushed to quickly inform Bell so they could make a plan.

“Do we think he may try and come here first? Or would he start in the shadows?”

“He was good at getting into others’ ears,” Roman muttered. His glance went to Vee’s meeting and to Remus. Roman was torn. He needed to help ensure that Dee didn’t ruin everything again. Remus was clearly very distraught about this new development though.

This certainly answered some questions though about how Remus felt differently toward Jay. That was, compared to how he felt toward Dee. Poor Jay. The serpentine look-alike really was just used as a pawn for a situation in which he had no prior involvement. Jay might not even be from Wickhills. He didn’t deserve this.

 The bigger dangers come first though.

“Lo,” Vee said. Lo had joined them as quick as he could. “I need you to find as many seelie that you get along with as you can. There must be more of your numbers than my brother is surely aware of. See if they have any Unseelie relatives they get along with. Prepare them. We will likely need numbers.”

Lo nodded and went off.

“Shall I ready our knights to protect royal fae hill?” Bell asked. Vee nodded.

Patton burst into the room.

“My love,” Vee said. He immediately caught Patton in a hug.

“You should have remained in safety.”

Patton shook his head and pulled away. “I trust that I’m safe with you. Besides, I am better with my powers now. I want to help.”

“Do we know if his siren abilities would work on a possessed fae?” Bell asked.

“I don’t know,” Vee said. He looked at their songbird. “You could be helpful. Just be careful, please.”

Patton pecked him on the lips. “I will.”

They hadn’t heard a sign of Dee yet, but that didn’t mean anything. Many faes gathered where the revel normally met. Bell had tried to persuade Vee to stay protected in the faery hill, but Vee wouldn’t hide from this. He wanted his brother to see the numbers supporting the true ruler of the Wickhills forest. The spider prince.

Remus stayed with them but was once again strangely quiet. He kept muttering some things about Dee and Jay.

“You want to try to get through to him, don’t you?” Roman finally asked him. There had been lots of bustling to quickly prepare for whatever Dee may try to do. Remus nodded.

“I won’t stop you,” Roman said. Remus blinked at him.

“I fear it will hurt either way, but we owe it to him to try.”

“Owe him?” Remus asked. Roman sighed.

“You were the only one who really got to see Jay. He deserves the chance to find himself again. You and I both know what it is like to be used by the serpent. No one should have to stay stuck like that.” Roman took a deep breath. “I can’t imagine how much worse it would be like that. Sorry, probably not a good time to bring that up.”

“I mean, we were both thinking it,” Remus said.

*

Dee was indeed sneaking about. Virgil and the others worked fast to get the word around. To be able to talk to everyone before the serpent got his clutches on them.

 The snake would whisper about, as he does. He appeared to former loyal allies from when he ruled. His lips curled into a smirk when one of them revealed they had saved for him his former weapons. A pair of poisoned dual sickles with their deadly grace.

Yet, there was more hesitation among some whom he appeared to than expected, but not all of them rejected him. It was hard to if you remembered his rule before. He figured some things out though. When one of them said they were called away by the current ruler in the middle of the conversation. Dee was not pleased.

Virgil had to reassure his people how powerful he and his side is against his brother. It helped many of his loves had grown more powerful. He, Logan, and Bell were able to share how much better things were compared to when the Serpent King ruled. Thankfully, they were able to find benefits for the Unseelie as well. Virgil, being a gentry, didn’t reach all of them with his position of power, but Bell managed to find some examples. They wouldn’t force the whole kingdom to stand against the snake of course. But he encouraged them to be brave enough to at least make a stand that they would not just give in to the usurper. He reassured them that he and his army would protect them. After all, it’s not like the serpent had the dragon creature on his side anymore.

They didn’t know when Dee would appear. He did though. Dee slipped into the area easily. Roman and his loves stood in front of their crowd to face Dee. With them were also Remus and Bell. Somehow Dee had the audacity to appear nonchalant.

“Oh hello. Quite a crowd to greet me back.”

“You’re not going to get back any rule that you had before.”

“Oh? And you gathered such a crowd to go against little ol’ me. Quite a boost to my ego for sure.”

“Enough.

Maybe you were worth being extra for.”

Dee laughed at that.

“Touching touching.”

“You’re waiting for a dramatic reveal aren’t you,” Roman said.

Dee smirked. “Perhaps. Oh, you know me so well.”

“Did I?”

Dee raised an eyebrow at him.

Remus stepped forward, seeming hesitant.

“Dee…this rule isn’t what it was. You should just move on. Let Jay go.”

Dee leveled him with a look.

“I know you’re not trying to manipulate me, Remus.”

“You’re one to talk.

Why are you pushing so hard for this anyways? None of this was yours. The rule was your brother’s. You weren’t even happy.”

Dee scowled at him, “How d-“

“You weren’t Dee.”

Dee scoffed. “I will not lose. I am powerful.”

“But see, it’s like you don’t want to lose a game. I doubt any of this would actually make you happy anyways.”

“Who do you think you are to say such things to me!?”

“Please Dee,” Remus said, almost sounding like he was pleading. Dee was not happy.

“Is this all for this vessel!? What does he have that I didn’t for  you to choose him over me, for my death to mean nothing to you!?”

Remus’ eyes glistened at that. Roman stepped forward to defend him, but Remus held a hand up to stop him. Remus wanted to deal with this. Roman swallowed. He would try to trust the other.

“I’m not gonna let myself give in to your emotional manipulations.”

Dee scoffed again.

“What I can say though, is love does not have to hurt. I didn’t want to hurt to be with whom I want to, even if I didn’t realize it back then. You lost. You need to accept this.”

Dee swung an arm forward, but his arm froze before he could touch Remus. Dee let out an aggravated sound as he attempted to push his arm forward with no luck. Remus smiled a little.

“Jay won’t let you hurt me.”

Dee scowled but didn’t say anything. A couple of knights pointed their weapons at Dee.

“Let him go, brother,” Virgil said.

“Do you really think I will be at peace after this?”

“Why are you holding on so strongly?” Remus asked.

“Maybe ‘cause it’s what I’ve always done.” Dee winced slightly after saying that, he probably hadn’t meant to.

“You’re not alive anymore though. You can’t get back what was. I don’t think petty revenge is strong enough to stick around for if you lack drive.”

Dee was a little hard to read after that. After a moment of looking around, he hardened his face.

“I will go out kicking if I have to,” He ground out. Dee made a signal and some fae came from the trees and even from Virgil’s crowd. Definitely not as many though. There were some who hesitated, steps stuttering in place, who ended up not switching sides. One of the faes who joined Dee was Eirwen, Logan’s biological mother who tried to trade Logan away. Not that surprising. Basically, any jerk, mainly unseelie, that they had encountered among the fae there. Except for the one who attacked Jay after he woke up.

Dee looked right at Virgil. He clenched his hand and went straight for his brother. He was, of course immediately intercepted. Two knights were on him to block his dual sickles with their swords. They stepped back to let knights hold him off. All their group stood ready to fight would they need to. Dee spun and struck fluidly, almost like a deadly dance. He dodged past many who got in his way, but it looked like he would not win this fight.

“You would not have the support of the kingdom like last time. Even if you were to get him out of the way again, anyways,” Bell said. “Not after it was revealed to the kingdom how you are an usurper.”

Dee just hissed and kept going. He was not going to be able to get through. It was mainly other knights who managed to hold him off. Virgil’s loves squared up. The nonfighters of the ground backed up. Virgil wouldn’t make them fight, their presence was more to show where the forest’s alliance rested.

Dee spat, “If you kill me, this pathetic vessel dies too. If you banish me, you never see him again.”

Remus was unable to hide his distress at that.

“Just let him go, Dee,” Remus tried again. “It doesn’t seem worth it,”

Dee huffed. “Why do you keep trying to convince me?” He asked.

“He does seem stubborn,” Bell muttered at one point. Roman glared at her, to which she just held up her hands.

Dee continued, “I will not let some pathetic lookalike be the reason I was bested.”

“You were already defeated though!” Virgil cried out. Dee glared.

“I. will. Not. Accept. That.”

“You’re already dead,” Roman said quietly.

Dee paused and his body twitched.

“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Logan asked. Dee scowled but didn’t say anything.

They had to be getting somewhere.

“He barely retained memories or had much of a life even before his deal with me. There shouldn’t be enough strong will to even sense him at this point. “

“You do have a tendency to underestimate people,” Virgil said. Dee hissed at him.

“We’re just drawing this out unnecessarily now,” Logan said.

“Oh?” said Dee.  Logan nodded.

“We are stronger now. We should be able to force you to stop.”

Dee laughed at that.

“Frankly, not that we really need to,” One of the knights said. “He’s nowhere close to winning.”

“But he still has Jay,” Remus added. “It’s only out of respect for some of the relationships we had with Dee that we didn’t immediately force him out.”

“Not that he deserves that respect,” Logan muttered but didn’t bother arguing with the others.

Dee turned to give Remus a look. “Oh? And how is that?”

Virgil then said, “Some of us have abilities that were overlooked before. Who are more powerful now than you would have expected, and can literally magically force you to let him go.”

Dee narrowed his eyes at him. “What are you referring to?”

How had he not figured it out yet? Patton hummed in response. Dee turned to him. They could see the change in his face as it started to dawn on him.

“No way…”

“You would be surprised at who grew more powerful when you were not limiting everybody.”

Dee’s face twisted up. “What a waste,”

“You still can’t learn when is bad to run your mouth, hm,” Virgil said.

“I am not overpowered!” Dee exclaimed. Virgil had somewhat grown up with him. Yet it was surreal just how stubborn his brother still was now.

Patton linked arms with the loves on his sides and they started to walk forward again.

“Stand down,” Patton sang musically. The ones who were fighting opposed stopped in place. Dee froze in place. He was fuming. They could see his body minutely shaking though.

“Last chance,” Virgil said. Dee didn’t react. Remus came to him quickly and held a hand out for their group to pause.

“Remus,” Roman started. Remus gave him a look. Then he turned to face Dee. Remus reached forward and brushed the snake-scaled side of his face like he did at the lake before. The one before Remus leaned into the touch.

Dee/Jay started to tear up. His body softened and he slumped forward into Remus. Remus caught him and held him close. They were both crying now.

Patton leaned up to Virgil’s ear, “That command was only for those who were opposing us,” He said softly. Which meant that Dee must have been released. Virgil gestured the knights to the ones who had been supporting Dee. Most of them were going with the knights willingly though. Virgil hoped now that this meant they could go on much safer. At least, without a bastard of a ghost hanging over them anymore.