Villians Or Heroes

Midnight Discussion

TW: Anorexia and bulimia are mentioned.

Logan looked up from his reading when a knock was heard on his door and Roman paused in taking off his shoes. It was twelve past midnight and Roman had just gotten back from the club. The roommates exchanged a glance but Logan left his book and opened the door.

"Janus, Remus. What's the problem?" He asked, standing aside to let them enter.

For a moment, Roman was fearful that they knew what he'd told Ali about Virgil or that he'd stolen Virgils' book but they seemed too scared behind their cold demeanour.

"Virgil is the problem. He's been acting weird." Remus said.

Janus nodded. "He usually stays with us for most of the night but he hasn't spoken to us since dinner."

Logan tilted his head. "Did you have a fight? I ate dinner away from the cafeteria, I wouldn't know."

Remus shook his head. "No, everything was really normal. Virgil didn't eat, we did, we messed about with fruit and then I went to grab more fruit to mess around with, got in a fight with a dinner lady, Janus had to come over and got me out of said fight with said dinner lady, we got back to the table and Virgil was gone."

The princes exchanged a glance.

"I haven't seen him..." Roman slowly responded, pulling off a polished dancing shoe.

"Neither have I. You said Virgil didn't eat anything at dinner?" Logan asked.

Janus nodded. "He rarely eats. He only has enough food to keep him going. Why, is that bad?"

Roman pulled back his head slightly, eyes wide in shock. "Seriously? That's awful! Is he anorexic?"

Remus tilted his head. "What's anorexic?"

"It's very bad," Logan stated. "A person suffering from anorexia hardly eats at all. The only food intake they have is only enough to keep them functioning but they can often find themselves dizzy, unable to see properly, or nauseous. The person may also be tired, go through extreme temperature changes and anorexia can have bulimic tendencies, like vomiting after you've eaten. Virgil has never said anything bad about himself or his image, right?"

The half-genie shook his head, eyes wide and fearful. "N-No, he's never said anything like that. He always seemed fine! I mean, we knew Virgils' eating habits weren't good but we never knew that-!"

"Virgil... has... kinda said something bad about himself..." Roman mumbled. It wasn't supposed to be audible but everyone turned to him. Roman glanced up, meeting the terrified, helpless gaze of Remus and the fearful, guilt-ridden stare of Janus and he knew he'd have to explain.

"What did he say?" Whispered Remus.

Roman swallowed, "Well, it wasn't like he s-said anything... Last Friday, at dinner, when Virgil was behaving really weirdly and you guys left when he teleported out, my friend stole the book he had a-and he'd written himself some really... creepy notes... And one of them told him not to eat."

"We can't write, though, there's no way that was Virgil!" Denied Janus. "The three of us are completely illiterate!"

Logan frowned. "You're what?" He said in disbelief before sighing and placing that issue in the back of his mind for another day. "If that's true, then someone may have written those notes to Virgil. He could be being manipulated into this eating habit."

Remus shook his head. "No, he's always been like this. Since the first day we met him, Virgil rarely eats. There's no way someone could be making him do this."

The door opened and Virgil stood there but something in his eyes was off, as though he were trying to focus but just couldn't, like the world around him was blurry. "Oh, there you guys are! I thought I heard you down here. Where have you been?"

Janus swallowed. "Are you alright, Virgil?"

The sorcerer shrugged. "Is that even a question? We all know I'm fucked up but that's nothing new."

"Virgil, is everything Gucci?" Asked Roman cautiously.

Virgil blinked. "Woah, when did Princey get into the library?"

"This isn't a library..." Frowned Logan, looking around his dorm.

"Isn't it? Huh, weird. C'mon, guys, I accidentally fell asleep in your room so we kinda need to fix it!"

"Virgil!" Gasped Remus, glancing at the two princes. "I thought you hated talking about th-that stuff!"

The sorcerer laughed slightly, stumbling back into the corridor. "No idea what you're talking about. C'mon, let's go!" He snatched Janus's' wrist, pulling his friend along and something fell out of the half-genies' pockets, bouncing away, unnoticed by the villains. Remus chased after his friends, almost fearful.

Logan hesitated but shut the door behind them and moved over to pick up what had fallen from Janus's' pocket. A golden, smooth lamp. "So he does have a lamp. That must've been where he was stuck when I went to give them their timetables."

"Virgil's' freaking me out..." Roman whimpered.

The other prince paused and sighed. "Yes, Roman. I think I can safely say the same..."