Only Time Can Tell

Chapter 1

Hello! Quick note. There is going to be a lot of basic descriptions and details in this chapter. This is all to help further along in the story so at least everyone has an idea about the whos, wheres, and whats of the story. I promise I read through each of these parts multiple times to make sure that they make sense (I still may miss things).

With the overcast sky above him, Virgil started making his way towards his destination. The forest surrounding Virgil was almost like that of a horror film. Dark, twisted trees lined the cracked stone path as far as the eye could see (which wasn't very far due to the heavy fog that was a permanent characteristic of the forest). Dead leaves, moss covered stones, and twigs made their home on the damp forest floor.

Every step Virgil made caused a crack or a rustle, the sound echoing with the wind. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought he was being followed. Virgil knew better though, he was too close to the exit out to the positive mindset for anything too terrifying to appear. He would have to go farther into the Darkscape and closer to the territories of Nightmares and Delusions for the real frightening creatures to make their appearances.

As he was walking he started noticing his hands, they were fidgeting quite a bit with the frayed sleeves of his hoodie. A nervous habit he had never seemed to outgrow. The farther he went, the darker the forest became, and the more Virgil missed being at home in the mind palace. He was having a hard time keeping his thoughts positive because that's what the Darkscape does, it brings out the worst in people. Virgil shook his head and kept moving forward.

Eventually, Virgil came to an old, rickety bridge. The bridge hung over a deep chasm, one that you couldn't see the bottom of. Every instinct inside Virgil was screaming for him to turn back, to not go over that bridge. He ignored those voices (however hard it was) and "confidently" made his way across the bridge.

Once Virgil crossed the bridge, he had to stop and catch his stalled breath. Virgil told himself that he was ready. He told himself that he would be able to handle this. How wrong he was. Shit... Virgil thought as he stared straight ahead at the locked, iron gate leading up to the Darkscape Manor.

The manor was as terrifying as he remembered. Surrounded by the old, rusted iron gate, the manor could scare almost anyone. The manor looked like a small, Victorian house. The walls were crumbling and covered in moss and vines. It had four towers with cracked stain-glass windows (Virgil could've even sworn he saw something move in one of them). The wood of the porch was rotten to the point where it looked as though you couldn't stand on it.

It might of looked small on the outside, but one should know to never judge something based on outward appearances. The inside of the manor was filled with winding and twisting hallways. There were countless rooms throughout the many floors. Many of the rooms were open for beings to go into, while others were locked (and for good reasons). The hallways dripped a black substance and dark shadows and figments roamed the halls.

Virgil stood outside the gate, trying to control both his breathing and his shaking. Looking down at his phone (how else would everyone stay in contact), Virgil saw the time and groaned. Where the hell are they?! They were supposed to be here by now so we could get this over with!

When Virgil had said "they" he meant the ever so wonderful Deceit and Duke. Though he had every intent on keeping the "light sides" out of this mess, he on the other hand had no issues involving the "dark sides" in this. They had been involved from the very beginning so there really was no point.

Virgil may refer to them by that old system of "light" vs "dark" sides, but in all honesty that system was bullshit. Both Deceit and the Duke had kind of proven their worth over the last couple years, even making themselves useful in Thomas' everyday life (to an extent). It wasn't saying much but through everything, the three "dark" sides had (almost) thrown everything behind them.

Nowadays you could find Remus adventuring with Roman in Daydream or babbling about something to Patton, who in turn would give him some much needed attention. It seemed to not only do Remus some good to rekindle the relationship he had with his brother, but it seemed to help Roman as well. Roman's creative spark seemed to burn brighter now that he had someone to delve into the "creativity" part of the process with.

Deceit spent quite a bit of time with Logan in the archives of the Knowledge territory. He may claim that he's preparing for any scenario that a good lie might come in, but everyone is pretty sure he goes to argue with Logan about any fact or piece of knowledge he could get his yellow, gloved hands on. Along with Logan, Deceit had started to team up with Patton to create the "dynamic dad duo", nobody could get away with anything with a stern look from both of them at the same time.

Overall, the sides had decided to work together (all six of them) to help keep Thomas together.

This wasn't one of those times though. Thomas, Roman, Logan, and Patton had no idea what was going on and if Virgil had it his way, it would stay that way. Virgil picked at a stray string hanging from his sleeve, There is no way that I am going in there alone, I guess I'm just going to have to wait for them to show up... but if they make me wait too much longer I'm going to be a much worse problem than the thing that we have to face in there.