Misinformation Can Be Deadly

Chapter 89: Awww... Oh...

CW: lotsa pain at the end

"Oh you look so cool!" Patton gushed, his eyes going from Virgil's eyes to his hair.

"He looks exactly as he did before he was turned into a god," Logan reminded him.

"Exactly! It's amazing! Being able to change your appearance, and so well too! I'm so proud of you." Patton cupped Virgil's face as he continued to look him over. "It's so cool!"

"Pops!" Virgil complained, pushing Patton's arms away. "Stop it!"

"I just can't get over it! Your powers are so cool!"

"You signed the adoption papers, Virge," Roman told him. "You gotta deal with him being your dad."

"That's right." Patton nodded.

"Let him breathe, dear," Logan told him. "You're going to suffocate him."

"You know I'm gonna smother him to death."

"He cannot die."

"Oh!" Patton's eyes brightened up. "This means he can see the kids again!"

Virgil laughed, "Yeah, we were kinda hoping I could do that. Have you come up with a lie yet? Or are we going to try to tell them the truth?"

"Oh we cannot tell them the truth," Patton said. "I wouldn't even know how to go about doing that!"

"That's what I thought. So what's the lie?"

"You were hiding somewhere safe while waiting for us to find you, and it took a while for us to find you," Logan explained. "But you were safe, that's the most important part for the kids to know."

"So... we're keeping it vague."

"Only because we can't think of any other story."

"Okay, I'm ready to meet them!"

"I'll go let the others know," Patton said before he turned and left the room. "They're going to be so excited to see you again!"

~~~

"Virgil!" some of the kids shouted as Roman teleported them to the living room. They ran to him and pulled him into a group hug as he laughed in delight.

"Hey guys, did you miss me?" he asked, hugging them back.

"They found you! Where were you?" Maggie asked.

"I was hiding somewhere safe, but I'm here now," Virgil told her.

"Did you get hurt? You have crutches," Elliot pointed out.

"It's just a small sprain, it'll heal in a day or two. Is everyone here?"

"Yeah, Roman and Remus brought us here," Sidney said. She was standing off to the side, still trying to seem stoic, but she was holding her arms so tight that her knuckles were white.

"I'm glad they did. Now get over here Miss-Cool." Virgil reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the hug despite a small noise of protest. "I missed all of you."

Kayden grabbed Virgil's sleeve and tugged. "Did any monsters hurt you?" he asked quietly.

Virgil gave him a soft smile, though there was a bit of sadness in it. He couldn't help but think about Alice... "No, no monsters had hurt me." He ached for that to be true.

Kayden smiled though and hugged him tightly. "That's good! I don't like those monsters, I don't want them to hurt anyone else."

Virgil rubbed his back. "They won't, I'll make sure of it."

"They can't get in here, Remus told me that! He said we're safe here." Kayden stepped back from the hug. "He's magic! Did you know that?"

"I guessed so, since Roman's magic too." Virgil patted Kayden's shoulder. "I'm glad you're all safe."

"Remus has been teaching me how to fight!" Sal said.

"He what?!" Delores asked.

"Well, he only lets me use a wooden sword which is boring... But he showed me how to use it!"

"Oh, oh thank goodness."

"I feel my ears burning!" Remus sang as he entered the room with Janus. They stopped when they saw Virgil. "Hey you're u- or I mean, you're back! Glad to see Roman finally found ya! Took him long enough."

Roman rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Nice to see you too," Virgil said.

"Oh, can we watch a movie?" Maggie asked. "I wanna watch a movie with Virgil!"

The living room erupted with all the kids agreeing, saying they wanted to be with Virgil and different names of different movies were shouted. Roman's heart swelled, especially when he saw the look on Virgil's face. He seemed shocked for a moment, but it had melted into a sort of love, tears welling in his eyes.

Kayden and Sal dragged him over to the couch, pulling him to the middle as everyone surrounded him.

"Okay okay, we'll play a movie," Delores said. "Let's have Virgil choose."

"Oh um, I uh... I don't know," Virgil answered, trying to blink the tears away. "Roman?" He looked over to the demon, who had moved behind the couch so Virgil was in front of him.

"That's your choice, dear. What do you want to watch?" Roman asked, looking at him with practically hearts in his eyes.

"Then maybe... Lilo and Stitch?"

"We should have that," Delores said. She started looking through the CD binder they had pulled out a while ago.

"I'll go make some popcorn," Janus said, heading to the kitchen. "Do you want anything Remus?"

"Nah, I'm good," his demon replied, surrounded by some kids himself.

"Alright, I'll be back." He turned and walked to the kitchen.

He grabbed a bag of microwavable popcorn from the pantry and tossed it into the microwave. He started the time and went to get a bowl, but stumbled for a moment as he suddenly got very lightheaded.

There was a burn in his chest that made him squeeze his shirt in his fist. He leaned against the counter for balance and tried to continue to walk to the cabinet that had the big bowls.

He looked out the window and froze at what he saw. For a moment, he only saw yellow and red. Then he noticed the demons that were all pushing themselves inside the dome the protection spell made. Hundreds of them. And there were cracks that were running around the dome.

Before he had time to shout for Remus, there was a loud shatter and it felt like a hot knife had stabbed Janus's chest. He fell to the ground with a whimper, holding his chest with a strangled gasp.

He had to warn the others, he needed to get up to tell them that the demons were coming. But before he could even stagger to his feet, there was the sound of glass shattering. And then there were terrified screams.