We Won't Let This Be the End

Part 1: Chapter 8

After Virgil's announcement, the sides went their separate ways to prepare themselves for their trip to the Darkscape.

Virgil was in his room sitting on his bed when he heard a knock on his door. Getting up he walked over to the door and opened it, Logan stood on the other side of the door with the old book from yesterday in hand. Though he had been expecting Logan's appearance, he was kind of hoping he would hold off till after their trip. Stepping aside, he allowed Logan into the room.

Logan stepped inside and turned and looked at Virgil, with a slight tilt of the head from him, Virgil shut the door. "I assume you wanted to talk about the similarities between my dream and the book?" Virgil inquired with a sigh. "I won't make this discussion long since the others are most likely waiting for us in the living room, but any other information you might be able to give..." Logan veered off giving Virgil a look.

Virgil knew what information Logan was looking for. He wanted to know if Virgil knew how this whole situation was going to end (since the ending was torn from the book he was holding). Virgil just shook his head and watched his normally stoic friend's shoulders sink just that fraction of an inch.

Virgil hated disappointing any of them. It seemed that that's all he's done the last twenty-four hours since this whole mess has escalated. Virgil started fiddling with the threads on the sleeve of his hoodie. He heard Logan exhale and looked back up at him. Logan had opened the book and was flipping through the pages with a ferocity that only meant that he was looking for something specific.

Logan eventually stopped on a page and flipped the book around to hand it to Virgil. Virgil looked at the page and noticed, that unlike the other pages that had color, this page was completely devoid of colors. It showed a black, dripping canvas hanging over one of the hooded figures. There was no indication, but Virgil had a sinking feeling he knew which one it was. A quick glance up through his bangs told him that Logan had his suspicions as well.

Sighing seemed to be Virgil's new favorite thing to do. Virgil closed the book and handed it back to Logan. He tried to find the words to say but none came out. It probably looked funny to Logan with him standing there opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. And, if he were being honest, that's what he felt like.

The only thing that he could muster up was "Please don't mention this to Patton or Roman... We don't know anything for sure and I don't want either of them worrying more than they already are.". It was just barely louder than a whisper, but Logan seemed to hear it just fine. Logan walked past him and opened his door, before leaving Logan turned around and looked Virgil in the eyes, "Though it may feel like it sometimes Virgil... You are not alone nor are you expected deal with everything alone. We have all been through enough together that you should know we have your back if you need a helping hand." With that, Logan walked out closing the door behind him.

Virgil once again sat on his bed and looked around his room. A heavy feeling washed over him as a sudden thought came to mind. Something might happen today that could result in me never seeing this room again...Virgil almost felt like he wanted to cry, but he couldn't, not now.

His eyes moved over to his closet and then another thought crossed over him. Absentmindedly, Virgil walked over to his closet and opened the door. Looking in his closet his eyes moved up to the very back corner on the tallest shelf where a box was sitting. Virgil quickly grabbed the box and left the closet. Setting it on his bed, he opened the flaps to look at the contents inside. Inside the box was his old black hoodie he had worn for the longest time till he decided to switch up his style back in 2017.

Looking at that old hoodie brought back many memories, both good and bad. Before he changed his mind he slipped off his purple hoodie and replaced it with the black one. Instead of leaving his purple hoodie in his room, he took it with him, only sparing a quick glance back at his door before finally making his way downstairs.

When Virgil finally enter the living room he heard a collective gasp. Looking up he noticed all the other sides staring at him. Trying to ignore their stares he quickly walked over to the couch and laid his purple hoodie on it next to where Nyx had seemed to decide she wanted to nap while everyone was getting ready.

"Why are you wearing your old jacket?" Virgil turned around to look at Roman who had asked the question. There was no ill-intent behind his question but his face held a masked look of discomfort that seemed to radiate the room. "Well, we are going into the Darkscape and I don't know what we will be encountering upon arrival. I don't want to ruin my good jacket so I figured I might as well switch it out for the short time being." There were hesitant nods of understanding from around the room.

Virgil looked at the others and noticed how they had prepared. They all had seemed to pack lightly for the trip. Logan had a messenger bag hanging off his shoulder that Virgil was sure he could see the old book peeking out of. Roman stood there with his sword hanging dutifully at his side. Patton had a backpack on, Virgil had no idea what he had packed into it, but he felt confident in Patton's fatherly nature that whatever it was would be useful.

A few moments later and Virgil felt something jump up onto his shoulders, turning his head slightly he saw that Nyx had woken up and decided that she would now perch herself on his shoulder for the trip. "It looks like everyone is ready to go. So let's get going." With that, Virgil and the others headed out the mind palace front door.

Stopping at the foot of the porch stairs, Virgil stopped and turned towards the others, "Last call. Does everyone have everything the need, there's no turning back once we get started." There was a collective round of nodding and affirmations.

With that Virgil started heading down the path towards the entrance to the Darkscape, the only comfort he felt at that moment was hearing the footsteps of the others following behind him.