Storm Clouds (Sanders Sides)

Shadows

Hey! This chapter is pretty intense, so grab your popcorn and get ready for some action!

Hope you enjoy! :)

{Author's POV}

Thomas had let the matter go for the rest of the day because hehad stuff to do, but now it was 9:00, and his thoughts were keeping him awake.

Virgil...a Dark Side?!

In hindsight...it probably should not have surprised him. The way he used to get along so badly with the others, the dark clothes and persona. It wasn't all just an act. He'd actually been one of them.

Part of Thomas wanted to be angry with his anxiety. For one, he used to be a Dark Side. Even if he wasn't anymore, he should have told them! They trusted him, he trusted them...

So why didn't he trust them enough to tell him this?

Did they think they would hate him?

Thomas paused.

Did the others know?

Thomas quickly sat up in bed. "Roman! Logan! Patton!" he called.

The others quickly popped up in various places around his bedroom.

"Salutations, Thomas. How may we be of assistance?" Logan asked.

"Is everything alright, kiddo? It's late, you should be getting ready to go to sleep." Patton said, giving him a gentle smile.

"Guys, we need to talk about something." Thomas admitted with a sigh.

"What's the matter, Thomas?" Roman said, taking a seat on the bed beside him.

"When we were making the video, after you three left, Virgil stayed behind for a bit. He seemed...upset. So, I asked him what was wrong, and he said he was upset because he couldn't protect me from the...the others."

"Well, Virgil takes things like that pretty seriously. He is your Fight or Flight. All he ever does it try his best to protect you. We all do, but he's just a bit more...vigilant about it." Patton explained.

"Why is this bothering you, Thomas? Did Virgil say something else?" Roman wondered.

Thomas nodded, rubbing his eyes with his hands in frustration. "Guys, did you know he...he used to be...a Dark Side?" he asked, looking up at the others with pain in his eyes.

Patton looked completely surprised, Logan only a little bit. Roman looked a bit surprised, but mostly looked like clarification had struck him.

Logan cleared his throat. "I...had some lingering suspicions. The three of us appeared in the Mind Palace around the same time as each other. However, one day, another door appeared-Virgil's room. We found Virgil inside, and he was...strange. Unlike us, at least. I was curious. I've studied and heard about most of the Dark Sides, but I'd never heard of one called "Anxiety". I assumed he was new, but I didn't know for sure he was a Dark Side. For all I knew, he could have been a new Light Side that just...dressed and acted a little more...gloomy. I did some research but I never knew for certain until now. You say he admitted this to you?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. I asked why he should be held to a different standard of protecting me from the Dark Sides than any other side, and he just said it. 'Because I was one of them.'" Thomas replayed the words out loud, feeling the weight they carried with each syllable.

"I...I had no idea." Patton said, tears forming in his eyes. "He must have been so scared, the entire time. Watching them come back, and being afraid they'd tell us when he wasn't ready, or afraid they'd do something."