~ Wings ~ Sanders Sides ~

~ Chapter Twenty-four ~ Patton ~

As I sit in my room, brooding like I usually do around this time, a gun appears in my hand.

Do it. You know they don't love you. They'll be happier when you're gone.

I think for a moment before Logan's favorite piece of advice comes to me: Think through your actions and prepare for each and every repercussion.

"Who gets what?" I whisper to myself, closing my eyes to think.

Come again?

"Who gets what?" I repeat, my voice stronger. "Which of the others will get the different parts of me? I'd have to duck out so that I don't hurt Thomas, but I can't undo that if I'm dead. So who's going to take over which parts of me?"

Well, which part of yourself do you find the most important? All of the sudden, three heart-shaped lockets are in front of me. They have fine, golden threads and seem to be emitting a glow from inside.

"I'm.. not sure. My main attribute is Morality, so I guess that?" One of the lockets stops glowing.

Now, would you say that selflessness goes with that?

"I mean, I guess..? Why are you as—" The first locker flashes and turns red.

Let Creativity have that. Who gets emotions?

"Uh, I'm not sure...? Logan doesn't like his emotions, but wouldn't letting Virgil have them make Thomas more anxious..?" The other two lockets flash, one dark blue and one purple.

Guess it's Russian Roulette, then, my dear Morality! Give them the lockets and, when you duck out, they get the attributes. But who has emotions, Anxiety or Logic? I guess we'll find out in due time. Well, they will, at least!

"Ok," I whisper, tears pricking my eyes. "But, before you go."

Make it quick.

"Are you really just a voice, or are you another side?"

Silence, then: That's for me to know and you to find out, Patton.

I sit there, stunned. That's the first time they've used my name... I shake my head and forget about it, deciding to instead give the others their lockets.

I start with Virgil, rising up into his room to see him sitting on the stairs, headphones on. I'm about to call out to him, but stop short when I see him hugging his knees to his chest and a dark patch surrounding him, its shadowy tendrils slowly spreading across the wall.

I walk over slowly. As I get closer, I can hear voices, but I don't know what they're saying. "Virgil..?" I whisper. No response. I take a few more steps forward and the voices become much more audible.

Worthless

They hate you

Not enough

Can't protect anyone

Useless

Paranoia

He's better off without you

DARKSIDE

I finally reach Virgil's side. "Kiddo, you ok..?" I ask, placing a hand on his shoulder. Then I feel his racing heartbeat and hear his fast breaths and it clicks. I hug him tightly. "I'm here, Virgil. I'm right here."

It takes a minute, but soon the voices die down and I hear my son's quiet voice. "P-Pat..?"

"Hey, kiddo," I reply.

Virgil chuckles, then I feel arms wrapped around my torso. "Thanks for that."

I kiss the top of Virgil's head. "Always happy to help."

Then I remember why I came. I reach into my pocket and pull out the locket with the purple glow. "Here, I got you something." I hand Virgil the locket. He takes it and puts it on, fumbling with the clasp for a moment.

"I, uh, thanks?" Virgil stammers. "Why are you--?"

"Because," I reply with a shrug. I regret not taking a moment to think of a proper excuse. "Now, I'm gonna go give Logan and Roman theirs. Cya, kiddo!" Virgil waves as I bounce off.

I decide to go to Roman first. He's in the imagination, as I expected, but Remus is with him this time. I'm not entirely sure what they're doing, but they seem to be having fun, so I decide to leave them be.

Logan is the only one left, so I go to him. I knock and poke my head in to see him reading. "Hey, Lo!" I greet with a smile.

Logan glances up. "Patton. Salutations. Do you need anything?"

I shake my head and hold out the dark blue locket. "Just had something I wanted to give you!"

Logan stands up and walks over. He takes the locket in his hand and starts to examine it. "Patton, this detail.." he begins. "This is exquisite! Where did you find it?!" He seems really excited.

"Huh? Oh, uh.." I rack my brain for a good excuse. "Roman made it!"

A faint smile flashes across Logan's face. "That makes sense," he says quietly. "Is there any particular reason why you're giving this to me now?"

"I felt like it." It's the same thing I told Virgil, but sticking to one story makes a lie more believable.

Logan doesn't seem satisfied with that answer, but he puts the locket on anyways. "Well, Patton, that is very kind of you." I beam, a faint warmth rising on my cheeks.

"I'm gonna go start dinner," I say. Logan nods and I head off to the kitchen, my heart heavy.