There's No Such Thing As Happy Endings - Book Three of the Why I Run Series

Chapter Four

Point of View: THOMAS, First Person
Timeline: Present Day, Day 2 of Roman being M.I.A. (Missing in Action)

I was in the middle of watching another Steven Universe rerun when Patton, Virgil, and Logan suddenly popped up.

"Hey!" I said cheerful, reaching for the remote and muting the t.v.  "What's is up everybody?!"

I smiled at them but it instantly faltered when I really took a good look at them.  All of them were uncharacteristically quiet, all avoiding my eyes.

Logan kept adjusting his tie, Patton kept re-tying his cardigan, and Virgil yanked his hood up over his head - something he hardly did now a days.  And where was Roman?  I felt my smile falter as I kicked off my blanket, stood up, and walked over - standing in my usual spot, still managed to get caught on my feet and following me anyway, but I paid it no mind.  "Guys... is... everything okay?"

Logan, as usual, was the first to explain.  "There is something... we should have told you weeks ago," Logan confessed, adjusting his glasses and avoiding my eyes momentarily before looking up.

I tensed at that.  "What is going on? And - uh - where's Roman? Shouldn't he be here?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Roman... is exactly why we came," Virgil picked up, shifting from his place on the stairs.

I waited for him to continue, for anyone continued but they all remained unnervingly silent.  "Is... something really wrong? I haven't been having any trouble lately or anything- just a little writer's block every now and again," I admitted.

I twisted to Patton, who wasn't so much as looking at me, and instead had his eyes fixed on the carpet as if he suddenly found it particularly fascinating.  "Dad?"

Patton simply shook his head sharply, mouth pressed together in a thin line, not saying anything.

"H-How serious is this?" I asked, glancing between the three of them.  "Is he sick or something?"

Logan cleared his throat.  "Anxiety, it might be best if you explain," Logan said curtly, adjusting his glasses and once again his eyes were fixed on the floor.  Logan, who almost always made eye contact.

Virgil's head twisted towards Logan in surprise, but then his eyes darkened with some dark emotion - guilt, possibly anger - before sighing in defeat and yanking his hood further down on his head.  "Roman... is missing," Virgil said finally and I felt all of my inside's instantly freeze.

"W-What do you mean he's missing? How does a side just - just go missing?!" I panicked.

"I'm going to explain this in the simplest way possible, but I need you not to panic.  Can you do that Thomas?" Virgil interrupted, seeing and able to tell that I was clearly panicking over this, and I forced myself to listen.

I forced myself to breathe slowly, calming my racing thoughts.  "Okay," I said after a moment.  "Go ahead."

"There are many part of your mind, Thomas," Virgil started.  "The Mind Palace is one of them.  However, outside of the Mind Palace, there is the Imagination."

I gasped a little at that.  "That's... amazing.  What's in the Imagination?" I asked curiously.

Virgil raised a hand, signally for my question to wait as he continued.  "The Imagination is where all the other sides - smaller sides - live.  They live in a little village - which looks... kinda like Corona from Tangled, I guess?  Anyway, so there's the Mind Palace and the Imagination, where the other smaller sides live.  Are you with me?"

I nodded, following.  "I have a feeling a 'but' is coming," I said slowly, taking in Virgil's grim expression.

"But... there's also... the Dark side of the Imagination," Virgil winced even saying it out loud.

"... W-What is... there?" I asked tentatively, feeling my anxiety start building again.

"All the Dark Sides, an Alternate Mind Palace - where most dark sides live - along with some... creatures.  Like the dragon-witch? She lives in a cavern on the Dark Side.  But there are other creatures as well... such as... hellhounds," he finished grimly.

I felt my eyes widen at the very thought.  "Waitwaitwait.  What - how - even?" I stuttered, trying to wrap my head around it.

"Hellhounds are creatures that once lived in the Imagination," Virgil continued.  "Ideas.  I don't know why, and no one can explain it, but when you get a strong enough idea... a puppy forms in the Imagination - which is why Roman can conjure puppies on a whim."

I whistled in appreciation.  "That's a lot of puppies," I whispered.  "Do they live with sides?"

"Some," Virgil admitted.  "However ideas can become corrupted, and once they become corrupted, those puppies... turn into hellhounds."

A moment of silence.  "Yikes," I muttered weakly.

"There's plenty of symptoms before hand and it's usual easy to get them into the Dark Side of the Imagination before they can hurt anyone - hellhounds are vicious by nature - "

"Well, I doubt that," I scoffed.  "I mean - surely there has to be a good hellhound right?  They can't all be bad," I reasoned.

"Not all," Logan interrupted, eyes meeting mine.  "However a good hellhound is rarity at best.  Hellhound are quite similar to dogs and are naturally very protective creatures.  Unfortunately, they see the Imagination as a threat, along with all those in it.  Therefore, it is merely safer to send them across the border into the Dark Side so that no one gets hurt."

"... from that tone, I'm guessing someone got hurt?" I winced, waiting for ball of dread it hit me.

Logan winced, going silent again.

"A hellhound attacked the Imagination a couple months ago," Virgil took over.  "Roman and I fought it and... scared it back to it's homeland.  And everything was relatively fine, up until... a couple of weeks ago?" he finished, a bit unsure glancing at both Patton and Logan who both avoiding his eyes.  Virgil cleared his throat awkwardly in the gap.  "Uh - so we thought everything was fine, until the Imagination was attacked again."

"And a lot sides got hurt," I guessed.

Virgil winced.  "All... the sides got hurt, Thomas.  They all... died."

"W-What do you mean?" I choked out, started to feel a burning sensation behind my eyes.  "They - I - I would have known, wouldn't I?" I stuttered, a tear rolling down my cheek.  How could I not know - 

"However," Logan said.  "We think... there is a possibility that could come back."

"How?!" I urged, eagerly leaning forward.  "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Logan shook his head.  "As of right now, I don't know.  They are trapped as... crystals."

I gasped.  "Like the Crystal Gems?!"

Logan nodded.

"So they can regenerate and come back!" I cheered, clapping my hand excitedly.

My hope was crushed when Logan shook his head.  "That would be the ideal scenario, Thomas, but I would... brace yourself for the worse.  We don't know if any of the sides are strong enough to..." his voice trailed off.

"Oh," I whispered quietly, pausing.  "Wait, what does this have to do with Roman? Was he in the Imagination that day? Is that what happened to him?!" I panicked.

"Thomas there's still some things that we haven't told you," Virgil said quietly, eyes fixated on his black combat boots.

"Like how all of... this," Virgil continued waving his hand in the air, "All of this... is my fault."

_______________
GUYS
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY AND HERE'S WHY:

I JUST FOUND OUT MY COLLEGE MIGHT NOT DROP MY MAJOR BEFORE I GRADUATE

HALLE-FREAKIN-LUJAH

Next chapter should go up tomorrow (these mostly are just going over everything that's happened so far, not too much new stuff so that's why)

AND HAPPY HUFFLEPUFF DAY!!!

- MAX :D