Unstable || Prinxiety

Chapter 18

(Logan's POV)

There are times where I really am thankful for not being able to have strong emotions. This was one of those times. 

People were panicking right, left and center - the whole place had been turned inside out. Why? To find that one who didn't even want to be found in the first place - Virgil. I had sent a team searching every single room in the whole place, which turned out to be a ton. My hands ran through my hair and I could feel myself slowly becoming more and more frustrated. Running around like headless chickens will not help Virgil. Not in the slightest. Why were people so stupid?

My eyes sparkled as they lay on an almost too a familiar face - Patton. Frowning and walking at a swift speed, he appeared not to notice me. I frantically grabbed at his elbow before he got too far away, pulling him close so I could talk to him more privately. He jumped slightly from our contact, shifting away slightly before he realized who I was. Honestly, he looked awful. He was ungroomed and had the same tired look in his eyes that I was sure I mirrored. Even though it had been mere hours since Virgil had gone missing, we were all feeling the momentous impact his absence brought. We all realized how absolutely catastrophic it would be for Thomas if a side as major as Virgil disappeared. Thomas himself had not felt much different - a positive sign that Virgil was still alive - however, anything could happen. 

"Patton, I need you to organize the children. Don't let them out of the common area; we don't know what they could find." I whispered. Patton nodded hastily and sent me his best attempt at a smile -more of a grimace - before leaving. Following suit, I walked into one of the lounge areas, surprised to see a handful of sides sitting calmly on the chairs. They seemed to be deep into a board game, and I struggled to calm the anger that was threatening to show. What were they thinking? One of the most important sides, Virgil, was lost, and all they were doing was sitting playing chess? In an instant, my fingers skimmed over the pieces, knocking them to the floor in an unorthodox show of irritation. The sides instantly went silent, all looking at me with shocked expressions. I guess they weren't used to me showing emotions.

"Get up right now!" I shouted loudly, causing the sides to wince and scramble to their feet in fear. One of the bolder sides, who I recognized as Arrogance, crossed his legs in a blatant act of defiance, sinking further into the couch he rested on.

"And why should we do anything of the sort? Who are you to boss us around?" he smirked, sending satisfied looks to his friends. I took a deep breath to calm myself before responding. If this guy wasn't careful, he'd be put under surveillance by an elder. Talking back to someone of my authority is never tolerated. 

"You know exactly what's happening," I scowled, "and if you all don't begin to look for Virgil, you won't like the consequences." A few good months of being on cleaning duty would sort their attitudes out quickly for sure.

"Look for Virgil?" one of them asked incredulously, "He does nothing but make Thomas's life hell! Why don't we just let him disappear? It'd be more convenient for us all."

"Yeah," another chimed in, "Plus, I heard that he's Unstable. He's in trial and everything. He's quite literally a danger to our society!" 

I prayed for the patience necessary to stop me from slapping the other in the face. Did he not realize Virgil's importance?

"Not only is Virgil of major, almost imperative importance to Thomas's wellbeing, he is also, quite simply, one of us. And we always help each other, do we not?" I questioned. "As for him being Unstable," I continued, using quotations when speaking the word 'Unstable', "I have decided to discontinue that trial. It was concluded that he was merely... misunderstood. He was purely doing his job to protect Thomas in the only way he knew how. And who are we to decide whether that's dangerous or not, considering that without Virgil, Thomas would probably have little-to-no motivation to do anything." 

Their mouths dropped as my words sunk in. Regret instantly flooded my system for being so rash - saying that Virgil wasn't Unstable was a particular risky move, for I hadn't exactly waited for the council to approve the decision yet. I just knew in my gut that Virgil was not Unstable, and this trial was pushing him over the edge. The quicker we accepted Virgil as normal, the quicker he would feel more comfortable with himself. I wish I knew that earlier.

The bold one, Arrogance, stood up, at last, trailing behind as friends as they left to meet a search party. 

"Who knew that Logan would let his favoritism endanger us all? Virgil needs to be stopped," he muttered softly, as if to himself, before closing the door behind him. I mentally marked him down as someone to look out for before leaving the room myself. Now all I needed to talk to was Roman. He and Virgil had been getting especially close recently, and I dreaded to imagine just how he was dealing with Virgil's disappearance. 

I gravitated to Virgil's room, realizing that I had never even bothered to get close enough to Virgil to enter. The appearance of someone's private abode could tell you alot about a person, and I had never bothered to look for myself. Had I ever checked on him when he was sick? I couldn't remember doing so. And in that moment, my heart twinged with undiluted regret. All memories of Virgil flooded like unrelenting waves through my mind, and in that second, I realized how similar the two of us really were - how similar the two of us are... are.

If we find him, I'll make things right.
No, when we find him.