Broken (Prinxiety)

24

      Virgil was standing unsteadily, feeling faint. He stared down at the lifeless form of his brother, his emotions all muddled together. He could vaguely hear Deceit ask if he was alright, but he couldn't respond. As he watched, Depression's body seemed to go transparent, before completely fading away. Roman's sword fell to the ground with a faint thud.

      He felt sick. He felt disgusted with himself for what he had just done.

      He felt relieved.

      He felt Deceit reach out and grab his hand, though he didn't acknowledge the contact just yet. He couldn't believe what he had done. Sealing his brother away was one thing. Killing him was a whole different matter.

      Virgil fell to his knees as he suddenly felt weak. Due to being in that lifeless state he had been in not too long ago, he still wasn't back to his full strength. He was shaking slightly.

      He had killed him.

      Deceit began to wipe something off of his cheeks, and Virgil suddenly realized that he was crying. Though his brother had tortured him and degraded him and made him feel lesser, Virgil found that he still did feel some love towards him.

      "It's okay," Deceit said softly as he hesitantly pulled him into a hug, as if afraid that Virgil would pull away. "It's okay, I promise."

      Virgil hugged him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder. "I--I killed him, Dee...I just wanted him to stop! I didn't want to kill him..."

      He was a killer. And even worse, he had killed his brother, his family. He was a horrible person.

      "You had to," Deceit said softly. "You had no choice." Virgil just stayed silent. They sat there for a long time, Deceit slowly calming Virgil down.

      "How did you break free from...whatever it was that Depression did to you?"

      Virgil thought about this for a long while. He wasn't quite sure how he had done it.All he knew was that everything had seemed dark and gray and unreal. He knew that something was happening, but it seemed as if he was watching it on an old TV.

      "I guess...I felt like I had to do something," he responded vaguely after a moment. "Everything seemed fake, but...I couldn't stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt."

      Deceit ruffled his hair, and Virgil wrinkled his nose though a smile did form on his face. Deceit pulled back after a moment and stood, helping Virgil up as he did so. Virgil accepted his help without a protest.

      "We should go to the others," Deceit suggested. Virgil was surprised by how he wasn't lying. Unless he was...how was he to know?

      "We should," Virgil agreed. He suddenly grew worried as he remembered what had happened to Virgil and Patton. He had no idea what happened to them after he killed Depression. His worry only grew the more he thought about it. What if when he killed him, something had happened to them? He hoped not.

      "I'll help you get home," Deceit told him. "After that I need to get to Remus." Virgil nodded and looked around for a moment, trying to get an idea of where they were.

      Once he was sure that he knew the way home, Virgil began to walk shakily back to the mind palace, trying not to think about what had happened so he could avoid the panic that was sure to come with it. Deceit followed him, supporting him whenever he needed to.

      It took a while to make their way back to the mind palace, but when they finally did, Virgil was exhausted. He stumbled as he made his way to the front door, and he took a moment to steady himself. He took a deep breath and entered the house, hearing talking in the living room.

      Virgil turned to look back at Deceit, and was surprised to see that he was gone. He looked around for a moment before turning towards the living room, making his way into it.

      He was greeted by the sight of Patton hugging both Roman and Logan. Logan leaned into the hug, while Roman had his arms thrown around the fatherly trait. Virgil kept silent, not wanting to interrupt their moment.

      Finally, Patton looked up and noticed Virgil. He gave a gasp and let go of the two, nearly leaping up off of the couch and sprinted over, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.

      "Virgil, you're back! I missed you, kiddo..."

      "I know," Virgil said as he hugged him back. He looked away, feeling bad about everything that had happened. He blamed himself for this mess. He knew that because of him, everyone else had been in danger.

      As soon as Patton finally pulled away, Virgil was tackled into another hug. Roman held him tightly, as if afraid that he was going to leave again.

      "Don't you ever do that to us again," he said threateningly. "You can't just run off and not tell us where you went! We were so worried!" His voice then dropped slightly. "I was worried."

      Virgil felt even more guilty now. "I'm sorry," he apologized, though he knew it would take more than just an apology to make up for his absence. "I won't do it ever again, I swear."

      "You better not!" Roman pulled back slightly, taking Virgil's face in his hands. "Listen, no matter what happens, you don't need to run away or feel as if you can't trust us. We're your friends, Virge. We're here for you and we want to help you, whether you want help or not."

      Virgil opened his mouth to speak, but Roman interrupted before he could even get a word out. "No more hiding things from us. No more secrets. You can trust us." Virgil gave a slight nod and averted his eyes.

      Roman took a deep breath. "All that has happened has made me realize something, too. I don't want to lose you, Virge. I---" He then cut himself off and pulled away. "No....I can't do it like this. Pat, Lo, watch him for a bit. I have to go do something!" With that, he ran off.

      Virgil watched with a confused look as he ran off. He then turned to Patton and Logan. "What is he doing?"

      Patton reached out and took Logan's hand, intertwining their fingers. With a smile he tried to hide he said, "Oh I don't know...Probably something with that dragon witch, Anyways, who wants to play a game?"