Misinformation Can Be Deadly

Chapter 85: Being a Divine Being is a Lot of Work

CW: mention of injuries (do I still need to put this up? Probably not. I'll continue to do it though)

"You have no idea how boring this place has been without you," Remus groaned. He was laying at the foot of the bed, tossing a ball into the air and catching it. "I guess the kids have been fun to hang out with though."

"He really missed you," Janus told Virgil, choosing to sit on the desk chair by the bed.

"I just said I was bored."

"He was really worried for you. We all were, I'm sure you've heard."

"I was not worried!"

Janus patted his leg. "Okay dear."

Virgil smiled from where he was curled up against Roman. The demon hasn't moved much since the god woke up yesterday, and he definitely hasn't left the room.

"Don't worry Remus, I'm doing okay," he teased.

The demon sat up, setting the tennis ball aside. "I said I wasn't worried! I knew you would live, you're a god now after all."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Virgil rubbed his chest where he was stabbed with the dagger, his hand still shaking from the injury in his wrist. "Does that mean I have to be responsible now?"

"Have you ever even heard of a Greek story before? Is Zeus, the king of his pantheon, responsible?"

"I guess that's true... B-but I still wanna protect people. Especially right now, because of... her."

Roman leaned his head against Virgil's shoulder. "You were like that even before you were turned into a god, it's just who you are. A protector. But you don't need to do anything you don't want to, it's not your responsibility."

"That's true but... you should practice using your powers," Remus added. "Maybe not your zappy fear powers, but your other powers. Y'know, shapeshifting, teleporting, entering people's minds. The usual."

"Yeah, definitely, the usual," Virgil sighed. "Can we do that when I don't have any holes in my chest? I wouldn't even know when to start."

"Yeah let's not stress out your injuries," Roman said. "They seem to be healing well though, it's been two days now and you can move your hands again."

Virgil lifted his hand, trying to stop the shaking to no avail. He was only able to bend his fingers, and not even to a full fist. "I guess it could be worse, considering what it was like two days ago. Was I really asleep for a whole day?"

"It was over a day," Remus reminded him. "And you were doing that to regain energy. If you didn't pass out, your injuries would probably be worse right now."

Roman hugged Virgil closer. "I'll kill her for that, and every other injury she gave you."

"I know but... I don't want to see her ever again. And I don't want her to hurt you either, so I would rather you stay away from her."

"Well, it's not like I'm strong enough to fight her on my own, so you don't need to worry about that. Besides, I don't want to leave your side anytime soon."

Remus glanced at Janus, catching the lie. Roman was right, he wasn't strong enough to fight Alice. Virgil is the only one that is, and Roman will do everything he can to make sure Alice never sees him again. Including fighting her himself, so Virgil had reason to worry.

"Well, I think I need some fresh air," Remus said, hopping off the bed and stretching. "We've been cooped up in this house ever since the apocalypse started. When you heal enough- well... it's not too pretty outside. But we'll leave you two love birds alone."

Janus stood up, taking Remus's hand. "Rest up, Virge. It would be nice for the kids to see you again, they miss you. But you should learn how to shape shift before then, or they're gonna have a lot of questions about your hair and eyes."

"See ya around, old man." Remus tapped Virgil's head, being careful not to hit the stitches, before teleporting away with Janus.

"Bye," Virgil said to empty air as he leaned back against Roman. "It sucks being stuck to this room, again."

"Convenient that all of your clothes are here though. Purp and Green too," Roman told him, grabbing Purp and handing him over to the god.

"Sometimes I think you love him more than I do."

"I love that he's a part of you, and had comforted you when you were younger. Plus, a purple cat is pur-fect for you."

"I would hit you for that pun if it wouldn't hurt me," Virgil said, and Roman stuck his tongue out at him in response. "Next time someone visits though, I need to ask about Buttercup. Has she been doing good?"

"She's... been hiding in Logan and Patton's room. The demons have put her on edge, and she mostly hides under their bed. But she still eats, and is healthy. I would check on her sometimes. You know I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her."

"You better not, that's our child."

Roman laughed and kissed Virgil's temple. "I'll send a message to Patton to bring her here if you miss her so much then."

~~~

Remus had teleported them on the top of the roof. Janus almost slipped because of the shingles, but his demon grabbed him and held him by the waist.

"Whoops, don't want that," he said before carefully sitting down, bringing Janus close to him.

"Yeah, please don't let me fall," Janus told him.

"I got you, babe."

"You're acting real smooth now, but if I weren't scared of slipping I would kiss you and you would freeze up on the spot." Remus scoffed with a roll of his eyes, but his burning face betrayed him. "I don't hear you disagreeing."

"So rude, and after I saved your life."

"You're the one that brought me out here! And... why here? Not that it's bad but..." Janus looked at the red sky, then down where there was a lot of smoke coming from town. "It's a bit depressing, actually..."

"It is... But the air isn't so bad. A bit dry and ashy, but it's ten times worse in Hell!"

Janus hummed and leaned in closer to Remus, making the demon blush harder. "Are we gonna do anything to stop all of this?"

"I... don't know. We would need to talk to everyone about that. Plus..."

"Virgil is the only one powerful enough to stop her, I know. Everyone knows but... He shouldn't have to confront her. She hurt him so much, why does he have to fight her? It's not fair."

"Life isn't, but no one is going to make him fight. I'm sure even mentioning it would make him go into a panic attack. He seems to be okay now, but I think that's just because he's burying the trauma he had to face. It's gonna come back to him one way or another... Let's hope it'll be easy to handle when it comes to that."

Janus looked out into the yard, frowning when he noticed a cluster of demons by a tree, not too far from a stake that was used in the protection spell. Remus had carved out stakes that he put into the ground, putting runes on them, and Janus used them for the spells.

One of the demons reached out toward the stake, only to be shocked by the protection spell, a yellow dome surrounding the house for half a second. Janus took Remus's hands as he watched, catching his attention.

"What do you think they're trying to do?" he asked, watching as a demon ran up the tree and peered into the windows of the house.

"It looks like they're looking for something." Remus held Janus closer. "I don't like it."

"Let's go back inside, I have a really bad feeling."