Broken (Prinxiety)

15

      Ever since Virgil ran off from Patton's room, he had been avoiding him like the plague. But it wasn't just Patton; Virgil avoided the other sides as well. He knew that it worried them, but he just couldn't bear being near them.

      He did feel bad, though. He now understood why his brother had been visiting him less frequently. He could only imagine the sorts of things that Patton had been told. Half of him wanted to comfort him, but the more anxious side of him won out in the end, causing him to isolate himself. 

      A few times the others tried to get into his room, and at one point had succeeded. Virgil had hidden under his bed until they left, though, not wanting to interact with any of them at the moment. 

      Everything seemed to be going okay for the most part, despite his recent discovery and self-imposed isolation. Little did he know that it was all going to draw to an end. 

      First, Deceit had came back, trying to get Thomas to go to the callback instead of the wedding. It scared Virgil, so he had put on his tough-guy persona, trying to act more angry than afraid. He tried his best to get Thomas to make Deceit leave, though that didn't work that well.

      He did have to admit, seeing Deceit get so frustrated at his friends was pretty funny.  But this was overshadowed by the fact that Deceit kept flirting with Roman, making his jealousy flare up. He knew that Deceit could tell how much it bothered him.

      Had it been just Deceit, Virgil would've been fine. But of course, the snake just had to send someone even worse than himself: Remus. 

      Of all the dark sides, Remus had to be the most terrifying to Virgil. The side was just so unpredictable, and he had done some things that Virgil did not care for. He hated how he didn't know what to expect from him. 

      If Deceit was scary, then Remus was beyond terrifying. 

      His presence had pushed Virgil beyond his limit, causing him to become panicky and irrational. And because of this, he had spilled his darkest secret in an attempt to make Thomas fear him again, since that was when he had the most influence over him. 

      Immediately after this had happened, Virgil had fled. Tears pricked his eyes as he rushed to his room, gathering things that were most important to him. This included his headphones, which now had a few stickers on it. He paused as Cerberus padded over to him, his tail wagging. 

      Virgil knelt down to the puppy, gently ruffling his fur. He took a deep breath and said, "Hey bud...I know that I just got you, but you won't be able to stay with me where I'm going." There's no telling what Remus would do to the poor dog. Virgil didn't trust him. "You're going to have to stay with Roman." 

      Virgil gently picked the dog up, but tensed when he heard knocking on his door followed by the worried voices of his friends. He thought about what he should do, before taking a deep breath and sank out of his room. 

      He appeared near Roman's room, which was just what he wanted. He gently placed Cerberus on the floor in front of his door. 

      "Sit." The dog sat, and Virgil patted his head. "I'll see you later, okay? I'll miss you." 

      He straightened and turned away, and began to rush off, not bothering to look back at Cerberus because he knew that it would make him feel worse about leaving him behind. His heart broke as he heard him whine, but he continued on, eventually leaving the light sides's mind palace. 

      Virgil knew that the others would probably be upset at him for confessing his dirty little secret to Thomas, and he knew that now that it was out all of the development in his relationship with everyone else would be lost. He knew that he didn't deserve to stay with them. 

      He wondered about where he would go. He traveled further into Imagination, growing more and more anxious by the minute. He had nowhere to go, and he couldn't just conjure something up like Roman. 

      So, that left him with only one option: go back to the others and live with them. 

      Virgil didn't want to do that at all. He was sure that Deceit hated him, and it meant that he would have to deal with Remus again. And this time, maybe Deceit wouldn't try to keep the two separated. Maybe he would do something awful to get back at Virgil! 

      Virgil could feel himself getting worked up, so he took deep, steady breaths to help calm himself. After he was calm, he began to make the journey back to the other mind palace, located on the far end of Imagination. He hoped that he could remember the way; it had been a long time since he had made this journey, and he hadn't thought that he would ever have to make it again. 

      It took a long time for him to finally make it to the other mind palace, and by the time that he did, hours had passed and it had gotten dark. The air was chilly, even with his jacket on, and he rubbed his arms to keep them warm. 

      Finally, the large house was in sight. It was the same as the light sides's, though it looked worn down and shabby. Virgil could feel dread creeping up his spine as he made his way to the front door, which was painted white, though the paint had began to chip. He paused right outside it, taking a deep breath. 

      He knew that he couldn't walk inside, as he didn't live there anymore. But he also didn't want to knock on the door, fearing that either no one would answer or they would deny him entry. Finally, he had worked up the courage to knock, and rapped his knuckles against the wood. It took a few minutes, but someone finally opened up the door. 

      "Oh, hello Virgil."