hold up, i'm not done yet

[Romulus]

ROMULUS MALUS - KINGPIN - COTC

The death of his parents had thrown Romulus into a detrimental loop. Trapped within his own mind and living through dreams, sometimes nightmares, of his creation was his way of coping. A destructive way. Darkness had engulfed him, swallowing him whole without any regret in sight. At first he thought his family had abandoned his him. Sojourn never visited, Ninazu and Stryker never rose from the dead, and the rest... well... they didn't show up either. No soul had bothered to check on him and that left him to dive deep into a place he regretted.

In hindsight, he hadn't been abandoned. A little, maybe, but not all the way. By choosing solitude, Romulus left those remaining to fight for their selves. To cope together while he did it alone. He pushed others away to grieve alone with an unhealthy method. For a long period, reality faded away while he solely dove into fiction. Adventures drove him forth, whether as a hero, bystander, villain, or a sidekick. Without realizing it, the lion had used these scenarios to logically recover from their loss.

Within time, the fantasy faded. Reality and fantasy began to merge. The world was beginning to come back to him and so was his conscious. Rather than control over his reality, he had the option of choice again. Consequences for his actions had come back. While Bryiath had greeted him warmly upon coming back, Sojourn whined. Romulus had shot back bluntly in response, dismissing her concerns. The tension between them only grew from there.

Eventually, he had lost her too. His close family dissolved and Romulus was left to lead the Coalition of the Condemend. Almost three years of leadership to this day. At first, his reign was shaky, afraid of following in his family's tracks and losing it all, but he mellowed out. He became confident in his decisions with time. For two years between, the group remained peaceful and now Romulus considered them to be neutral. Those from his past would either be ashamed or proud, but that didn't matter. Death had come for them.

Time moved ahead and so did the kingpin. Grief faded and new connections sprouted, although not as close. The pain never left him, but he dealt with the feelings on his own terms and kept his head high.

And then tragedy struck... or was it a blessing?

The last one to depart from his family had risen from the grave. Sojourn. Romulus felt conflicted, but relieved. He was no longer walking alone, despite his insistence on it all along. With familiar faces reappearing in groves, the kingpin had never expected one thing from them: his parents. Comforted, but not fulfilled, the lion moved along.

Cracked paws lead him throughout the territory as he held his head high and periwinkle eyes out towards the greenery in the distance. Romulus walked in the silence. Thoughts of the upcoming Spring Equinox crossed his mind. His gaze observed the plants nearby beginning to bloom as the soft winds brushed their surfaces. Rebirth. Renewal. Renaissance. Their refurbished appearance decorated the woods and swayed with the environment's newfound way of life. The lion liked to envision that the Coalition of the Condemned, along with himself, would follow that route.

An anomaly in the distance caught his attention. The border's venus flytraps were not turned outwards, but towards him as he grew closer. The plants nearby began to writhe. Romulus' head craned as one of the traps leaned down and snapped to grab his attention. Like a fly entrapped within, he was enraptured in curiosity. A paw purposefully shifted closer to the plant's mouth, only to pull away at their sudden clamp. Waves of confusion rushed over the kingpin. Their insistence was unusual.

The lion tried to turn away but another flytrap flared it's green jaws at him, daring him to cross. Encircled by them, he carefully stepped among them. Some let him through, others snapped, but there was a pattern. His mouth pulled back into a frown as he realized something was wrong. This was not a display of disobedience, but a warning. They were leading him elsewhere.

He continued to test the waters carefully. For every few clamps, he found one successor that led him further until he reached another dead end. Nearing the end of his wicked maze, a silhouette formed in the distance. He had found what they were telling him about. Romulus could not make out who this stranger was, but as he grew closer, he started to feel his heart pound. The realization came upon him quickly. This was no stranger.

The kingpin broke into a sprint. Venus flytraps snapped behind him in a chatter. His paws clamored across the ground and only came to a halt a few feet away from her. Out of breath, he stood still. Violet eyes surveyed her up and down, confirming his suspicion, just like he did with his sister. His dreams, somehow, had become a reality. Whatever laid in the heavens had given him his family back, whether for better or for worse. Tears started to form in his eyes.

Romulus could not speak as thoughts raced through his mind. Instead, he chose to act. He jolted forward and attempted to lean into his mother's shoulder, manipulating the fire away from her side as he did so. He practically tried to melt into her. The warmth that radiated off her was familiar and comforting. He opened his jaws, wanting to speak and tell her all that happened, but was at a loss for words.

He closed his eyes and a singular tear streamed down his cheek. His mother was back.