scales of justice (janus + virgil)

chapter no. 10

 Virgil returned to the house not long after (he could teleport through the MindSpace), bursting through the front door with tears in his eyes. Roman was pacing the living room, looking anxious, and abruptly looked up. "Virgil!" he exclaimed, rushing forward and grabbing the purple-clad boy to hug him. "There you are! We've been worried sick about you all day!"

Logan was coming down the stairs and stopped in his tracks when he saw the scene in front of him. "Virgil," he said. "Where have you been? Where is Janus?"

"He's gone," whispered Virgil.

Logan blinked. "Gone?"

"Finally," muttered Roman. "I was starting to get sick of him hanging around here all the time like he owned the place."

"What do you mean he's gone?" demanded Logan.

"I fucked up," Virgil explained in a shaky voice. "I fucked everything up."

"Virgil! Kiddo!" Patton ran over and snatched Virgil from Roman's grasp. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright? Here, let's sit you down on the couch so you don't feel so overwhelmed by everyone." He shot Logan and Roman pointed glances as he helped Virgil to sit down, covering him with a blanket.

While Patton went into the kitchen to make some tea, and Logan went to his room to get some stuff, Roman sank down next to Virgil. "Virge... what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," mumbled Virgil.

"You can talk to me," the prince said more gently. "Even if it's about that slimy snake."

Virgil shot him a sharp look.

"Okay, okay, fine, I'm sorry, he's not a slimy snake," he corrected himself, rolling his eyes. "But... Deceit. Even if it's about him."

"I said something I wasn't supposed to," began Virgil. "He didn't take it well and just left."

"Left?" inquired Roman.

"To Morticus," clarified the other boy.

"What?!" shouted Roman. "He's gone?"

Virgil nodded, feeling the tears return.

"What? Who's gone?" Patton wondered, reappearing with some tea.

"Deceit, apparently," Roman told him.

Worry filled Patton's eyes. "Oh no. Wasn't he supposed to... help us? I can't believe he would turn his back--"

"No, Pat, it's my fault," Virgil cut him off, wiping his nose on the loose sleeve of his sweatshirt. "I'm why he left."

"Aw, Virge, you never know how he's going to react," said the moral side, pressing the mug into Virgil's cold hands and patting him reassuringly on the shoulders.

Virgil didn't say anything, because he was sick of explaining, so he just sat back and let Patton and Roman hold him and try their best to make him feel better. But that didn't get the image of Janus' hurt, shocked expression that would haunt him for his remaining days.

Virgil decided to crawl in bed at about 2 a.m., which wasn't a great choice for his mental and physical health, but he wouldn't have been able to fall asleep at any time before that anyway. After he lay in bed sobbing for a good two hours, sleep finally took him, but it was far from the emotional relief he'd hoped it would provide.

-

Several Years Ago

All he felt was pain.

It tore through his bones, pressed in on his lungs, squeezed his heart in its spindly fingers. He felt a scream tear from his throat, three words echoing through his mind: