An Infestation.

Gasoline.

"We have to get him back," Morality said as watched Logic walking the room in worry. He had been doing it for the past half an hour that he was sure that he was leaving a mark on the floor.

"It's not just that, Dad!" Logic exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air in irritation. "It's also how we can pretend that he's here and not worring Thomas." It has been three hours of them worrying and thinking up a way to get him back-- as you can see, it hasn't been easy.

"Maybe we should tell Thomas, there is no use in lying to him," suggested Morality.

Princey shook his head in disagreement. "No; we can't tell him that Anxiety was kidnapped by a Trait that technically isn't a Trait. We don't even know where she comes from!" Now, Princey has been the one who has been taking it really hard as he actually needs Anxiety to be alive. Him and Anxiety are polar opposites; darkness and light; so without him, Princey becomes the Negative. It can also work the other way around-- Anxiety's soul purpose is to worry Thomas so without Princey, Thomas' confidence, he becomes the Positive. But you might be thinking that 'what's wrong with that?' well, that's not why the Trait exists in the first place. A Trait is part of someone's personality, it's what makes the person up, so the Trait is the actual personification of what the person is made up of; so if the roles switch, the person themselves become unbalanced and can end catastrophically. That's why they need to find him as soon as possible.

The oldest sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes, we do. Well, I do." The second oldest and the second youngest look at each other in confusion and then back at Morality.

"Where did she come from?" asked a frightened Princey. Dad squeezed his eyes, tightly; as if wanting to push the thoughts or memories as far in the back of his mind as possible as if they were tears.

"You two don't remember her because I... I made sure that you two's memories were locked away with her in the process." Dad looked away from them and slumped his shoulders as he continued to talk. "Depression is a Trait-- in a way. She was based off of someone in Thomas' life; just like the rest of us. And, even if it pains me to say it but, she and the rest of us have a lot of things in common. Depression has a real name, like us; Depression can pop in and out of Thomas' mind... Now that Anxiety broke the main mirror; Depression has the ability to speak to Thomas anytime she wishes now; she is a Trait that I didn't want Thomas to have."

"So--" Princey was going to speak when Dad interrupted him.

"It's my fault... I was being selfish and didn't want Thomas to grow up with a negative Trait but when I locked her away, a part of her escaped and turned into..." He didn't want to finish because the tears seemed to be chocking him.

"Anxiety..." Logic gasped as he put all of the dots together. "That part of her evolved into Anxiety," he said in disbelief, not wanting to believe that their Anxiety came from a monster like her.

Morality nodded and sniffles even if he wasn't even crying. "Yes, remember when Princey cut her arm? You saw that black goo? That's what Anxiety is made of, but just a little bit. That goo is her blood, what makes her up, that's Depression itself and the woman you see is just a shell with memories...just like us."

Logic looked at Morality and felt something in his stomach tugging towards him and it rose from his stomach to under where his heart is supposed to be. But I don't have a heart... He thought to himself as the feeling strikes him right in between his ribs. What is this...?

"It's no one's fault," Logic says with the best intention. "You were just trying to protect Thomas; there's nothing wrong by doing that. You..." Logan trails off because that one word didn't seem to lift from his tongue. In fact, it seemed to be foreign to him and his extensive vocabulary.