We Won't Let This Be the End

Part 1: Chapter 16

The Part 1 Finale is here!

 I am so grateful to everyone who has shown love and support for this story. I never thought that it would be anywhere close to what it is now when I started it six months ago. Thank you so much and I will see you again in Part 2!

-Saerina

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The four sides had been walking through the manor for quite some time. There had been small bits of conversation here and there, but otherwise that they traveled in silence. They were all lost in their thoughts as they continued forward, looking for whatever arch or door that would lead them to their next destination.

Virgil's thoughts were scattered all over the place. His dream played through his head as well as possible outcomes for how this whole thing was going to work out. Up to this point they had at least some idea of what they were supposed to do, now there was nothing. Virgil started to fidget quite a bit as they walked.

Virgil wasn't sure when he started to notice the changes of the hallway going on around him, but something felt wrong and it was very unsettling. The air seemed heavier. The sludge that leaked from the cracks in the walls was coming down thicker, laying in puddles along the floor. The hallway seemed to be getting wider. The wallpaper appeared to be fading away and became more marble looking.

Virgil heard a crack under his footstep and looked down. What the? Virgil stopped in his tracks, the others stopped walking to see what he was doing. Virgil bent down and grabbed the piece of debris that was under his shoe. Lifting it up there was nothing but white fabric on the side facing him, he flipped it around to look at the other side and dropped the piece from his hand.

The debris that Virgil had been holding was actually a piece of a painting. The piece glared back at him with dull, yellow scales visible. Virgil looked up terrified and noticed that the area that they were in was littered with these different pieces of paintings. Virgil's breath quickened as he anticipated what was going to happen next.

Roman, Patton, and Logan were looking around at the various pieces as well. They each held a similar look of confusion. All four sides startled out of their thoughts when they heard a loud, grinding sound start.

They watched in fear as the hallway started to shift. It remained a hallway, but the appearance changed. The hallway started to widen until it's wide enough to be a room itself. The floors and walls turned into a sleek, black marble. Their eyes widen when they see what waits ahead of them at the end of the hallway.

Standing in front of them a little ways down the hall were two figures. They couldn't believe who they were seeing. "Deceit! Remus!" They all yelled in surprise. They all stared at the two sides and the state that they were in. Deceit stood on one side of the hallway while Remus stood on the other. Both stood stiff as boards, their clothes were disheveled and torn like they had been in a really bad fight. Remus had what appeared to be fresh scratch marks on the side of his face. Deceit was missing a glove, blood dripping down his hand from an injury that could be seen on his left arm.

Nyx hissed at their arrival and jumps off of Patton's shoulders, moving to stand behind the group. Roman and Patton try to move towards them, when suddenly they are stopped by Virgil. They look at him in confusion until they notice the fearful look on his face. Virgil felt knots in his stomach, this situation just went from bad to worse. He knew that they didn't have much of a choice, they only had one option. "Guys, we need to run."

They all looked at him wide eyed, "WHAT?!"

Virgil pressed his lips into a thin line as he watched the menacing smirks appear on Remus and Deceit's faces. They were going to attack soon. "We don't have any other choice right now. Everything we have faced up to this point have been creatures made of shadows. These are actually sides! Their power far exceeds anything else that we have faced so far. We are all exhausted and need to regroup before we stand any chance of beating them."