Virgil the Child (Sanders Sides)

2 - Something's Up

TW: Sad thoughts, scared child (I guess), screaming

The first thing Virgil felt when he woke was a sudden proportion change of his blankets to him; as they had originally felt like a rather large mound, they now felt like a gigantic mountain of fluff piled on him.

It took almost all of his strength to push through all the blankets and out onto the edge of his bed. Catching his breath, Virgil went to step off of the bed.

Except, he couldn't reach the floor.

So instead of gracefully standing up, the anxious trait fell off the bed and straight into the floor, face first.

And he did the only thing he could think of doing - he let out the loudest and highest pitched scream he could.

-•-•-•-•-•-

The morning had been quiet when Logan first stepped into the kitchen. Preparing toast topped with the perfect spoonful of Crofter's had been easy, because for once the Crofter's was in the exact spot in that he had placed it previously.

Getting out a small booklet titled 'Word Association Games,' Logan sat down and began to eat his small breakfast. It was almost 6 in the morning, so he could have peace for another hour or so.

That all ended when he heard the screaming.

At first he thought he was hearing things; this was the Mind Palace after all, and the scream was too child-like to be any of Thomas's traits that resided in it. But then the screaming continued, louder and more sudden than before.

Trying to keep a level head, the Logical side tried to locate the source of the foreign noise. He could deduct that it was indeed coming from the rooms- but which one? It-

But before Logan could continue his analysis, a sleepy Patton in his signature cat onesie stepped out of the hallway and waved to Logan.

Yawn. "Hi, smart son...I was wondering...is that screaming just a figment of my imagination?" Patton spoke softly, his voice thick with sleep.

Logan straightened his glasses, and spoke, "Let me remind you, Patton, for the 78th time, that I am not your son. And no, you are not experiencing cognitive distortions. I also hear the screaming."

Patton yawned again. "Oh...cool..." he sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

A pause.

Patton's eyes widened. "Wait, that means-"

Just as he was about to finish his sentence, a rag-tag-looking Roman rushed out of the hallway next to him, sword in hand and stance wide. His hair was a wild mess and his clothes looked wrinkled from being thrown on hastily, but he was there nonetheless and battle-ready.

"I've come to rescue whoever might possibly be making that terribly awful screaming!" Roman dramatically declared, pumping his sword into the sky. Logan merely sighed, while Patton looked grateful for Roman's presence.

"Oh, Roman!" Patton cheered. "It's good you're here. Now we have protection!"

"We would've been fine on our own-" Logan sighed before being interrupted.

"Right you are, Padre!" Roman bellowed, his voice a little less loud then the screaming that echoed the halls. "Let us journey to defeat this treacherous foe!"

Logan sighed for yet another time that morning, setting down his book and abandoning his Crofter's toast to follow the Moral and Creative side down the hallway (Rip the Crofter's Toast). As the three traits travelled farther along the hallway, the screams became louder and more clear, but in smaller bursts.

It was as if the hallway itself became colder and darker the farther they went down it; it even began to get foggy, with Roman absentmindedly trying to swing his way through the new obstacle. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway, and as the fog cleared they could see an old, worn purple door just sitting in the front of them, waiting to be opened. On the frame of the door was a carved message that read: 'Anxiety's Room - STAY OUT,' but both the 'Anxiety' and 'STAY OUT' had been crossed off. Patton was delighted to see that the trait's title had been replaced with 'Virgil' instead.

"So this is Hot Topic's room, eh?" Roman chatted, not specifically talking to anyone. Walking up to the door, he pressed his ear to the frame and paused to listen. He could hear the source of the screams on the other side of that door.

"But wait, if this is Virgil's room, why haven't we been able to find it? Like how we tried to go after him yesterday?" Patton questioned, a small sadness lacing his voice.

Logan held his chin in a thoughtful way. "Well, it seems that since Virgil is a rather...dark side of the main traits of Thomas's personality, his mind has cornered his room off to a very sectioned off area. However, we were able to find his room originally the first time because Thomas himself wanted to go there."

"He is not dark, Logan," Patton argued, trying to keep his composure while defending his dark strange son. Logan looked a little surprised; Patton hardly argued with anyone, let alone the Logical side.

"Can you two please cease your bickering? We have other battles to fight," Roman said, silencing the two. He motioned to the door, and began to speak.

"Come, my brave companions, and let not this barrier stand in the way of a great victory!" He shouted, brandishing his sword towards the sky yet again. Without warning, the brave knight took a first kick at the door, cracking some of the wood.

"Kiddo, we could always just-"

Before Patton could finish, Virgil's door was in pieces, and Roman was crouched over inside Virgil's room, triumph in his eyes.

"-knock."

     Stepping into the room with Roman, Patton and Logan observed the surrounding area. The bedroom itself seemed almost...brighter in a way. There were less cobwebs that adjourned the walls, less darkness casting overhead. Even the walls themselves were painted a slightly brighter purple. Patton felt his heart swell with a small happiness.

     Roman paused for a second to listen- was that crying he heard? Following the sound to the edge of what seemed to be Virgil's bed with a pile of blankets on top, Roman could finally see what was making the awful racket of crying and screaming.

     Eyes wide, he turned back to Patton and Logan, too shocked to speak. Hurrying over, both Patton and Logan got a look at what Roman had seen; their faces were similar with pure surprise.

     Sitting in front of them was a small child, around the age of 5-6, sobbing his eyes out and holding his nose. And strangely enough, they noticed- the baby looked like a mini Virgil!

Part 2 is donezo!

Thanks for reading! :D

-Minion <3

Word Count: 1132