Vices and Maces

Chapter 51: Virgil Needs a Stress Ball or Something

CW: healing in detail? Basically talking about how to heal super fast, fresh scar

The factory was always quiet once all the workers left, and usually that put Virgil at ease, but right now it just made him even more nervous. No, nervous was an understatement, he was nauseous with anxiety.

There has been no word from either Black or Melany, and no one has really said anything about it either. Not about the bar that burned down, or Janus escaping, and definitely nothing about Virgil being a traitor. But he can't just believe that he was in the clear just yet, something was weighing down on him. He can't afford to just shrug it off as anxiety, he messed up somehow, he must have!

But then why is he still alive...? Yeah the goal is to stay alive but Black always kills traitors. Virgil couldn't stop looking around for the dreaded purple flowers, once he sees them he'll make a break for it. It was a message Black would send to those he's about to kill.

Virgil wasn't sure when he'll be attacked, so earlier today he 'accidently' let a box full of fire crystals fall from where it was stacked. No one was hurt, but all of the crystals had broken and were useless. Not to mention the time it took to clean up since only Virgil and one other person in the area were allowed to touch the mess.

If he can just work in the factory for a few more days, he'll be sure to continue to make these little slip ups. He could sabotage tools, loosen some bolts on the machines, and misplace important pieces. Hopefully no one gets hurt, because as much as Virgil doesn't trust any of the workers, he still can't let people get hurt.

To distract himself, Virgil went to work on his supercomputer. The first thing he did was put in a password system. That way only he can unlock it, and no one can snoop around and find something. Especially since Virgil needed to translate his notes into English and put them in this computer, ready to send to Petals as soon as Virgil gets his number or even email.

He had also put in a small code that made typing sounds whenever Virgil typed on the keyboard, which he was grateful for because the clicking calmed his nerves slightly.

He had grabbed his notebook and was starting to translate the first few pages to send over. For the drawings, he would just click on the small pen icon and redraw them to the best of his abilities. They weren't fancy super detailed drawings, just basic shapes and notes besides the shapes to point out what they are. Hey, Virgil wasn't an artist!

Taking a deep breath, Virgil finished the fourth page, starting to relax some more. He had been listening just in case someone tried to sneak up on him, and checking the smell of the air for any slight differences. Nothing... he might have made it... Should he send a message to Janus telling them he's still alive?

Virgil jumped when his phone buzzed on the edge of the super computer. He released a shaky breath, calming his pounding heart. His anxiety made him want to throw up, how much longer can he take this?

He grabbed his phone to look at the notification, and his anxiety got even worse when he saw it was an email from Black.

"Shit shit shit," Virgil mumbled as he unlocked his phone and looked at the email. He was ready to jump from his seat and grab his bo staff that he hasn't used since his fight with Roman. It already had ice crystals on it, though the crystals were making frost around the wall and floor where it touched.

The dragon read the email over and over again, trying to understand every word of it. It was a summons, Black wants to meet up with him tomorrow. It doesn't say why, it just told Virgil to meet up with him at his office at four pm tomorrow.

"Oh gods..." Virgil whimpered, setting his phone down and holding his face. Black is going to kill him... It has to be a trap.

But if it's not... on the off chance it's not, then Virgil has to go. It would look suspicious if he didn't! He had to, not just for himself, but for those he's protecting.

~~~

It's only been one night since Janus has been in the house. They- no they feel like a he today. He could smell food from downstairs, probably breakfast, but he didn't want to get up. He was laying in bed still, staring at the cuts on his arm. There weren't any bandages covering them, he took them off because it was annoying to shower with those bandages on.

He tried to focus on his arm. It would be easy to just cover the cut with skin, but that wouldn't be healing it. He had to go under the scab, growing scar tissue. Squinting his eyes, he imagined doing just that. It itched at first, but Janus continued going at it slowly.

Soon enough, he was able to easily and painlessly scratch away the scab. He smiled when he saw the fresh scar. That wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be! Now... his leg... That was going to be much harder. He didn't just have the bone he needed to think of, but any soft tissue that was damaged around it.

However considering how torn up his arms were, he was going to have practice with his new found self healing powers. As for bones, his ribs were still fractured and should be easy practice for healing.

There was a knock at the door, making Janus flinch and sit up, ignoring the pain from his ribs.

"Heyo!" Remus popped his head in. "We have breakfast, are ya hungry?"

"Oh, um, I'm fine for now," Janus told him. "I'll get some breakfast later."

Remus seemed to deflate a bit, opening the door wide enough to walk through. "Is it my family? I know that just a few days ago, we were technically enemies, but... give them a chance to warm up to you. My brother can be a bit stubborn, but he's a big old softie, and my kid is even more stubborn somehow but once he knows you're safe to be around..."

"It's not that, I just..." What was it? Did Janus feel unsafe around them?

"No no, don't worry, it's fine! I won't blame you if you feel nervous around them. I mean, this is going to be a big change for you. It... seems like we're all going through some changes."

Janus felt a pang of guilt when the yellow wings on Remus's back fluttered subconsciously. "Alright, I'll come down for breakfast. But someone's going to need to help me with my leg." He pulled the blanket away to show the cast.

"Oh, right! Ugh I'm such an idiot, would you rather I bring you a plate? We have pancakes and breakfast burritos."

"I... should get used to this house for now. I can't stay in bed all day."

"You have a broken leg and fractured ribs, you're supposed to be resting in bed all day. You know what, I'll just get a plate, you stay here."

Janus rolled his eyes. "Alright."

Remus started to leave before back tracking. "Pronouns?"

"He/him, thanks."

The halfling smiled. "Don't worry about it."