We Won't Let This Be the End

Part 1: Chapter 1

     Virgil woke with a start, causing him to unfortunately fall off his bed and land uncomfortably with his back on the floor. He could still feel the horrible emptiness of the void in his body as he slowly tried to calm down his still erratic breathing. When he finally calmed down enough he looked up at the ceiling and just gave a long sigh, deciding he had no motivation to get up (like most mornings). Virgil would like to say that this was the first time this had happened, but this was now a daily occurrence. He'd go to bed at night, have that same stupid dream, wake up with his back on the floor, and wait for one of the other sides to come knocking on his door to let him know that breakfast was ready. He looked over at his clock to see what time it was to notice that it was 7:30, That's weird... Usually I'm awake a lot earlier than this. Virgil looked back up at the ceiling and let his thoughts wander back to his dream from the night previous.

     He had no idea what any of it meant. Why was he back in the darkscape manor? Who were the figures in the paintings hanging along the halls and why had he never noticed them before? What was with those two broken paintings? Why did the black canvas bother him so much? Virgil sighed audibly. Maybe I should actually go and see Remy about this. Maybe he can give me some insight about what's going on with these dreams. As Virgil was thinking, three consecutive knocks came from his door interrupting his thoughts, Logan... Guess I should get up. 

     Shortly after Virgil got himself off the floor, he got himself dressed in his usual attire. He grabbed his headphones from his desk, placing them in their spot around his neck, and slowly made his way downstairs. As he turned the corner of the stairs he took in his surroundings. Like most mornings, Patton was just finishing up the final touches on breakfast which looked to be pancakes. He was humming to himself as he got the food situated on the table in between four sets of plates and silverware. Logan sat in his usual spot at the table in the dining room. He had a coffee in hand, casually sipping as he was engrossed with the book he was reading. That's odd, usually Logan reads the paper with breakfast. Wonder why he's reading a book today? Virgil quickly ended that train of thought as he noticed the absence of one of the sides, an obnoxious and self-absorbed side at that. As if reading his mind, Logan spoke up "Roman is down in Imagination Village." Virgil looked to Logan startled, "What?!"

      Logan just sighed and placed his book down,"You were thinking about the absence of Roman were you not? You first made your daily observations about the locations of both Patton and I and then started looking around confused. I could only presume you were curious about the location of Roman."

     Patton walked back into the dining room setting the last of the pancakes on the platter in the center of the table. Wiping his hands on his apron he looked up at Virgil, "Logan is right about where Roman is, kiddo! He had just come down the stairs when he was contacted, the voice sounded quite frantic and had asked him to hurry."

     Patton took off his apron and hung it on its hook in the kitchen. He walked to the fridge and grabbed the milk out, pouring himself a glass. He looked up at Virgil, silently asking him if he wanted some milk or coffee. Virgil tilted his head towards the latter and made his way to his spot at the table. Patton brought over both of their drinks, handing Virgil his, and sat down at his spot as well. "Whatever the problem may be I'm sure Roman will be able to solve it!" Patton said with a clap of his hands, his bright, cheery smile never leaving his face. Virgil gave one last glance to Patton before starting to serve himself breakfast, "I guess. That's what Princey does best..."

    Shortly after the three sides settled down to start eating breakfast, Roman made his appearance. "Good Morning my fellow sides! I have returned." He had his arms stretched wide and a smile on his face as he sauntered over to join us at the breakfast table.

     Patton was the first to respond to Roman, "Welcome back Roman! So what was happening in the village that they had to call you down so urgently?"at this Roman's hands landed on his hips and his eyebrows furrowed "Nothing. Nothing was wrong at all" Was his reply. "Nothing? How could nothing be wrong?" Patton voiced, confusion lacing his words.

      Roman looked back at the others, "I don't know. I went down after receiving their call and everyone was running around frantically. I found someone who was more on the calmer side and he said that he had no idea why they were panicking. Apparently, no one knew, They were freaking out for no reason."

     "Freaking out for no reason?" Logan inquired after Roman's little rant. Virgil's eyes snapped up from his pancakes that he was focused on eating to see all the other sides staring at him. The minute they saw him looking, they all averted their eyes. Though normally this would cause him discomfort at this moment it more pissed him off about the reason as to why they were staring at him.

     "I didn't cause the panic!" he defended himself. "We weren't implying you did kiddo" Patton started, "It was simply our natural reaction to Roman's statement. As the embodiment of Thomas' anxiety, you are the most common cause for panic and fear. It would only be natural for us to automatically assume it was you." Logan continued on. "We meant no offence in our reaction."

     "Well I am offended." Virgil responded. Standing up from the table, he quickly cleaned up his dishes. He re entered the dining room with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at the other sides. Patton is looking down in shame while both Roman and Logan are now staring at him, as if waiting for more of a response.

     Virgil sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look, I know in the past causing panic was kind of my thing but I haven't done that in years! Since joining you guys here in the mind palace and working with Thomas, I haven't once thought about causing any problems." Virgil looked at the other sides.

     Logan looked to be taking into consideration what he was saying as the other two were looking at him. "Well if you didn't start is who could've? People don't just start worrying for no reason..." Roman questioned. Virgil gave him a look, " First, yes they can. Trust me. Secondly, did you ever consider that maybe Deceit or Remus could have had something to do with it?". That caught the other sides attention. They all looked at each other.

     "That could be a possibility as well. They both do have a tendency to spread lies and cause trouble." Logan stated while nodding to himself. "Speaking of those two" Roman added, " I haven't seen either of them in quite a while. Usually they pop in but neither have shown their faces recently." All the sides looked at each other, expecting one of them to say that they indeed have seen Deceit or the Duke. They all knew that not seeing either of the two for long periods of time never ended well for them, or Thomas.

     Virgil was getting tired of this conversation. He already had enough to think about with his dream and what that could mean. He didn't want to overwhelm himself with thinking about Deceit, the Duke, or why people were panicking for no reason. If there is one thing that he has learned after all this time, was that thinking too much never ended well for him.

     While the other sides sides were still conversing about possibilities for the village panic, Virgil decided it was a good time to make his exit. Right as he grabbed the handle of the door, he heard a voice from behind him "Virgil, may I inquire as to where you are going?"

     Turning around, Virgil sees Logan standing behind him. Virgil exhales a breath as he responds to him. "I have some things I need to take care of. I won't be gone long so you don't need to worry." Logan readjusts his glasses as he gives Virgil a look. Virgil knew that look. It was that look that told him Logan knew that something was up. Emotions may not be his forte, but Logan (after many years of all the side being together) had gotten pretty good at reading body language and listening to verbal cues. It was almost as hard to hide something from him as it was to hide something from Patton.

     "If something is the matter, you know all of us are here to talk. All you have to do is ask." Logan stated this as he gave Virgil one last look before returning to the table to join Patton and Roman. Virgil turned back to the door, shaking his head, before exiting the mind palace. Placing his headphones over his ears and starting his music, he walked off the porch and started making his way towards Imagination Village where he would hopefully be able to speak with Remy.