The Prince, The Gangster, The Teacher, And The Poet (Sander Sides Fanfic)

Chapter Fourteen-The Group

TW: Talking to oneself, mentions of a fire, mentions of people's eyes changing color (where have we heard that before?) and just mostly a filler chapter. I'm pretty far ahead in writing this, so there shouldn't be any more Friday's off for a while unless I'm really unsure about a chapter.

"What do you want?" Virgil asked almost as soon as he left the tavern. He walked a little way into town but decided that being in the open for this conversation might not be a great idea, so he headed into one of the alleyways.

'All I want to do is to help you, Virgil.' Virgil rolled his eyes.

"Sure. That's why you gave me a migraine in the middle of a tavern." He sighed.

'Should... should I not do that?' There was uncertainty in the voice that made Virgil hesitate.

"No. You shouldn't." There was a weighted pause between the two of them. "Did you... really not know that?"

'Not every demon is as experienced in the art of making deals with mortals. It doesn't happen for some people.' The voice now sounded defensive, and Virgil paused again.

"Demon?" There was no response. "I'm not going to get mad, I know you're more powerful than me. Just... demon, really?"

'Yes. Demon. Is that going to be a problem?' It now sounded defensive, and Virgil realized two things. It probably wasn't a good idea to make it upset, and in the years he had known this voice to call to him in the middle of the night, he still didn't know its name.

"What... what do you usually go by?" Virgil was careful not to show too much interest, not yet. But still.

'I am called Darius.' Virgil nodded.

"Darius," Virgil repeated, before another thing Darius had said. "Alright. And... and I'm your first?"

'First what? I didn't say anything about first.' Darius instantly sounded worried, laughing with an awkward breath.

"I'm your first deal. I'm the first person you've made a deal with." Virgil tried to process it.

'So what.' And the shadowy figure appeared in front of Virgil. It was really one of the first times he had ever seen him. The first time had been that night, the night Virgil had made the deal. The screams still sometimes rang in his mind, the light and flames and heat and horror that he felt. the terror and the tears that streamed down his face. The way he had curled in on himself so the people wouldn't see him. Wouldn't tell him what he knew. That his parents hadn't made it out. That he was alone. That he would have to go to an orphanage and wait for someone else to take care of him. Someone who wasn't his parents. 

The last time he had seen the demon had happened when Virgil was panicking in the middle of his room and Janus was nowhere to be found. He had materialized in front of him and helped him through the hazy terror. It had been odd, he at first thought it was Janus in front of him. Instead, when he opened his eyes he had seen the demon, which had almost sent him back into his crazed spiral. 

He looked like Virgil remembered even though he didn't see him a lot, pure black skin matched with pure white eyes. His hair seemed to wave around his head like smoke rising from his scalp. Virgil had never thought to think of him as a person before, merely a distraction, or an annoyance. But now he was materialized in front of Virgil, and Virgil instantly got nervous, glancing around. What if Patton came by now and saw him talking to this demon.

"Other people can't see me. Or hear me. Only you. You're the one who made the deal, after all." Virgil nodded slowly.

"But I'm really your first?" Virgil didn't know why he was so stuck on this. It was a little weird, but something was comforting about the way that the demon in front of him shifted awkwardly before sighing.