Based on @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors‘s amazing story, Love and Other Fairytales. This is an au somebody else came up with on the discord server where Patton, Logan, and Virgil die when they go to confront Deceit, leaving Roman alone.
Warnings for character death, abuse, unsympathetic deceit, and kissing.
When Roman, Patton, Virgil, and Logan enter the clearing, things begin to go horribly wrong. Roman runs to the Serpent King and sits in his arms. When he tries to take the bone ring from his finger, the Serpent King throws him down, and with one harsh word, he ends the battle. Once the movement stops, once the whirlwind of anger and screaming dies down, only Roman and the Serpent King are left standing. The Serpent King pulls Roman close and whispers in his ear. “Don’t be foolish now, dear,” he says. “Come along now, and everything will be forgiven.” And Roman takes his hand, and when the Serpent king looks at him expectantly, he forces a smile. But Roman remembers seeing his friends, his loves, die in front of him. It haunts him, Night and Day. Not that there’s much difference anymore. Every time The Serpent King speaks he hears screaming, and every time he touches him he thinks of tearing flesh. He wants so badly to leave, but he can’t. Because Dee still loves him. Even after Roman betrayed him, Dee forgives him, and even thanks him. Praises Roman for tricking the Spider Prince and his minions into confronting Dee before they were ready, before they could have fought back. He says, “None of this could have been possible without you, my knight.” And Roman begins to believe it.
