This was not what Deceit was expecting. Then again he wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but this web of crystals was a far cry from the television static Remy had described it as. It was like a sky filled with stars and celestial bodies, but nothing bigger than a grain of sand. It was a blizzard where one could hardly distinguish one snowflake from another.

'Focus on who you want to go see, picture every detail in your mind." He remembered Remy's words and pulled his attention back to his task. He had to focus on Logan, think about all of the specific details about him. For a moment, he felt nothing. Had he done something wrong? Then it pulled at him, like a rubber band that had been stretched too far and suddenly let go. He stumbled into a room. There had to be a more pleasant way to travel between dreamscapes, and maybe with time he could figure it out but he didn't have time.

After he found his balance, Deceit looked at the room around him. Bookshelves lined the wall, their titles unreadable, and in the center of the room was a table with a map lined on it. Logan was standing over the table; his usual professional attire replaced with a regal cape, and a billowed shirt; his crest had hints of blue, red, and green, woven and intermingled together; and his hair was ruffled and messed underneath a lopsided crown. His posture was dreadful as he looked over the map, his hands planted firmly on the table.

"Ainsley, wonderful, you are probably the only one who can assist me with this." His voice was broken, in a way, Deceit couldn't describe. This was a version of Logan he had never gotten the pleasure of seeing. A shame he couldn't enjoy it. His skin crawled at the sound of his own name. Wasn't he supposed to look like Remy, and didn't Logan remember how much he hated that name?

"Oh yes, I would be happy to help after you referred to me in such a vile manner." Deceit searched for a mirror, managing to find one on the wall. He was surprised when he saw his own face looking back at him, not a scale in sight. At least that answered his first question.

"Apologies, but I have never enjoyed calling you Deceit as there is more to you than lies and deception." Logan waved it off as if now was not the time for this conversation. Instead, he beckoned Deceit over.

"I am in a quandary, though honestly, the implications of that word are a bit light for my liking."

When he looked up, Deceit noticed the bags under his eyes and the desperation that fought through every line of his irises.

"I need the expertise of an outside source."

"Why not seek help from one of the princes, their skill in creative solutions has never been lost on you before my liege." He had to play into the fantasy, had to find the source of what was keeping Logan asleep. Then he would work on waking Logan up.

On the surface, it was obvious that Logan was worried about Roman and Remus, it showed in every small detail of the room they were in, the kingdom setting, his attire, even his crown has jewels that reminded Deceit of the twins.

Logan froze, his eyes casting back down to the map, a myriad of figurines cast on it's surface. "I believe in my desperation to protect them, I have made a mistake. They no longer believe in my protection and have decided to face the dragons and witches alone."

There it was, the ever perfectionist Logan couldn't deal with the fact that he had screwed up. "May I be so bold as to ask, what did you do?" Maybe he was asking for his own curiosity, maybe he wanted to help Logan face it. He couldn't tell.

The room began to fade and worble as Logan was pulled into the reality of what had happened. "I was attempting to protect them, that was always my intention." His hands were shaking as he grabbed at the map, trying to maintain his hold on this fictional world. "I... I pushed my emotions aside so that they could grow up in safety. I hid them. I ignored the ache every time I missed them."

The bookshelves crashed around them, opening up the room to a dark street. Logan, who could not have been more than 10, was scrambling down the sidewalk holding tightly to Roman and Remus' hands. They were walking towards a building, a place that Deceit could only assume was the orphanage.

"A king is nothing without those whom he serves, and I serve you, my prince, and my duke. I love you." The younger Logan held his brother's tightly, holding them as if a stray breeze could make them disappear. As he mouthed the words it was 'King' Logan who said them, his regal outfit falling like smoke as he stood watching his brothers, watching himself. "I have always fought to serve their needs, to protect them."

Young Logan finally looked up, making eye contact with his older counterpart and with Deceit, before his eyes began to glow. The older Logan looked away, not being able to face his past, but Deceit kept his eyes trained on the scene. He could almost feel the change in the twins before they both passed out. They couldn't have been more than 4 and the young Logan had been ten. He had only been ten! Why had a ten year old been forced to make a decision like that? We're all parents of rich families this heartless?

Deceit turned to look at the man who had been his mentor during a hard time, a pillar of stone that had never before looked shaken. He was crumbling now. In his black polo with the dark blue tie, tears streaming down his face, he looked on the verge of breaking.

At first, Deceit thought his tears were from sadness, but as Logan crumpled his hand tightly and the world shook apart, Deceit could tell the tears were from anger. The force of his anger ricocheted around the world.

"They were supposed to be safe!" Logan's voice shattered the pavement they were standing on and Deceit had no intention of finding out what would happen if he fell through.

"Logan, I need you to focus." Deceit tried to solidify the dream, make something that was less chaotic, but Remy had warned him that it might be harder to control Logan's dreams because of his mental state. "FOCUS!"

Logan snapped to look at him, his wild eyes scanning over Deceit and something seemed to click. He closed his eyes, taking in a long shaky breath as everything in the world began to shift again, this time without the force of an earthquake. When he finally opened his eyes again, Logan turned to Deceit first. He had shifted his dreamscape into one of the training rooms he and Deceit used to practice in. He must have been aware that this was a dream, at least in some part.

"Apologies, I did not expect anyone else to be in my mind with me." He had tried to return to his stoic self but there was still sadness, pain, and anger laced in each of his words.

"I won't say it was a pleasant experience but it was enlightening. What tipped you off?"

"You do not normally call me by my name."

That was a valid point, names were a social construct and overall Deceit wasn't fond of them. "Well, we are here now. Care to open up more?" Deceit gestured to the door that he was sure would lead to another part of Logan's mind.

"Not particularly. I am aware that if I were to..." He waved his hand and a stack of cards appeared, "Ah, here we are," he said after looking through the stack. "If I were to open that figurative 'can of worms', I don't know what would come out."

"Well, most likely worms," Deceit teased, getting a small smirk from Logan.

"Look, I'm not saying that you have to be honest with me about all of the trauma you have, we aren't that close, but you need to open up to someone."

"I just need to come up with a solution." Logan sighed, running his hands through his hair that was still a mess. "I do not need to concern the others."

"A solution to what?"

"Roman and Remus."

"You'll have to be more specific. The twins are troublesome but I wouldn't call them a problem.

Logan began to pace, trying to come up with the words he needed to say. "They... I... How..." He took a deep breath, turning to look at Deceit. "How do I protect someone who doesn't want to be protected? How do I protect someone who hates me?" Logan asked. "It doesn't matter if they do not want me around. I am still their older brother and their safety will always be at the top of my concerns."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why care about them if they don't want it? You should be more focused on protecting yourself. We have all seen it, Logan. You have pushed your body further than it can handle, chosen to work on plans instead of sleeping. I mean, you've always been like this, but around them, it's gotten worse. I don't particularly care what you choose to do with your life." He flourished his hand, "but you could probably do with a bit of self-preservation."

"Self-preservation would probably benefit me, but I don't think I have concerned myself with my own safety since the day the two of them were born. You have Remy, you understand how it is."

Deceit nodded because he did. On his own, he would have never turned against Mother Necessity and Zero Sum, but if it meant rescuing Remy he was willing to take that chance.

"I am not normally one to suggest this," Deceit broke through the slight silence that had formed between the two of them, "But, maybe it's time you sat down and talked with someone. I'm sure the driver and the soft one would be more than happy to listen."

"Emile and Patton?" He asked, "Yes, I'm sure they would." The look on his face said it all. He didn't want to be a burden.

"Alright, well, you are too deep in self-pity for me to get through to you, so I'm going to do this the hard way. If you don't wake up, I'm going to destroy your laptop. Good luck coming up with a plan to protect the disaster twins without any resources."

Deceit smirked and the look of terror in Logan's eyes. "Tick Tock nerd, Tick Tock. Deceit forced himself to wake up. He would give Logan a few hours, but he did not make threats idly.

AN: So the working title for this chapter was "Into the Unknown", but I thought it best not to rip off Disney. Also, this is now officially the longest story I've ever posted (not that I have that many) but I'm terrified I'm being too wordy or that I'm going to lose y'all's interest so if there is anything you want to see more of or less of please let me know. I still have a decent amount planned so I'm not sure how soon we will get to the end. I hope that's okay. Thank you so much for sticking around this long! Next chapter I think we might finally get another fight scene.