Anxious is to Anxiety

//5\\

It was four days after the death of Virgil Sanders. Logan had suggested that they bury the anxious side in a graveyard in his side of the Imagination when Remus piped in that his side of their kingdom had several. However, there was a problem with this; there was no body. When Virgil had died, his body had disintegrated into nothing - not even ashes were left, just a black and purple jacket. He had turned into a Function, was Logan's reasoning, because there was still some level of anxiety present in Thomas.

Their host was informed of Virgil's death only moments after it occured. He'd canceled his plans with Nico last minute, blaming his stuffy nose on a "sickness" rather than the tears that were streaming down his face, and even surprised himself at how well he'd been able to mask his shaky voice. That wasn't his main concern though. Virgil was dead. Thomas was saddened by it as much as his sides. Even though Virgil was the last to form, they all still held as much love for him as they did for each other.

The final result was that both of the creative sides, working together, would conjure a magnificent mahogany coffin with purple velvet lining the inside, and they would lay Virgil's jacket inside of it. His funeral was held in the neutral area of the Imagination to represent Virgil's time with both the dark sides and the light sides. The funeral was two days ago, and Thomas and all the sides attended, even... them.

Patton had only left his own room a few times in the last few days, not letting anyone in. He'd been crying on and off, but didn't want anyone to see him cry. Couldn't let anyone see him cry. Crying was selfish enough as it was, even if it was for a lost famILY member... He choked back another sob at the thought. I have to accept it, the moral side internally scoffed out of hatred for his own mind. Virgil is gone.

Logan, as he did with most feelings, bottled up his grief and worked to distract himself from his emotions. He too had rarely left his room, and even with Roman's pleading, the logical side stayed firm. If he came out, even something as little as seeing the others grieving would force him to confront his own emotions, and stepping out of his figurative bubble of safety was the last thing Logan wanted to do. Better to work, get things done, distract himself. So he stayed locked in his room, as his despair for his lost friend was locked in an almost unopenable box in his mind.

As the creative side, Roman was in charge of coming up with Thomas's ideas, his daydreams, anything he could think up and create. But the one thing that Roman was repeatedly reminded of was Virgil slipping away, eyes shutting, fading from existence. He couldn't get the image out of his mind. He so regretted treating Virgil as he did, regularly taunting, teasing, and berating the anxious side. He would take it all back if he could. The princely side was so attached to his ideas of black and white, evil and good, villain and hero. A hero, Roman had thought miserably, which I couldn't be. He wasn't Thomas's hero, and he wasn't able to be Virgil's, either. Why didn't he say something? Everyone knew it was dangerous, Roman could have at least suggested another option. He had failed at something yet again, and this time it had more serious consequences - he'd lost one of his dearest friends.

Remus wasn't faring well either, though it was doubtedly so that anyone was. The darker Creativity was in the Imagination, killing clones of Roman's villagers and monsters alike. Anger, rage, was his way of channeling his negative emotions and releasing them. It was something that Janus had offhandedly mentioned several years ago, releasing one negative emotion through another and all that jazz, and Remus had interpreted it as a way to grieve. The deceitful side knew better than to argue about something like that, especially considering... the circumstances.

Speaking of the deceitful side, he'd been busy consoling all the other sides. Too busy to think through his own feelings, though he wasn't sure he wanted to. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he would wake up. This would all be a dream. He and Virgil would still be on bad terms, but at least Virgil would be alive, right? No, sadly, that wouldn't happen. No matter how much he wanted it to.