"Virgil! Virgil! I need you to wake up and tell me what happened. Where's Roman?"
Slowly Virgil turned his face upwards as his eyes struggled to focus on a concerned Logan. He was still at an enlarged size, but for some reason he was lying flat on the ground. He tried to think back to why, but all that came to mind was a blackened haze and the faint sound of screaming. Virgil's ears ringed as he began rising to better look at Logan.
"Virgil, are you alright? You seem disoriented and may be suffering from a possible concussion. Can you tell me anything as to why you're currently in this state?"
"I-I'm not sure. My head's all fu-fuzzy."
Once Virgil was back up and resting on his knees he took a moment to collect himself. Whatever had just happened knocked the wind out of him and he was sore all over.
"Listen, I don't mean to rush you but I need to know where Roman is."
"What do you mean? Roman's right....here?"
Virgil went completely white as he frantically looked around him for Roman. He tried to call out, but his throat tightened. In a flash the memories were flooding back in intense waves. Suddenly, his heart started pounding and he collapsed forward in pain. Feelings of nausea overwhelmed him as he began to shake vigorously. Virgil was experiencing an anxiety attack as his body began to remember the pressure of Remus's boot suffocating him underneath it. His mind was filled with the screams of Roman pleading for Virgil to help him. Then only darkness remained as he had lost consciousness.
"Virgil I need you to look at me."
"I can't, I-"
"Yes you can, now look at me. Focus on my voice and turn towards me."
"I-I'll try."
Meekly, Virgil looked up at Logan. He had his arms outstretched and was walking towards him. As he rested his hands on Virgil's face he smiled and spoke again.
"Good, now I need you to keep looking only at me and breath deeply. In and out, in and out, keep it up."
Virgil did as he was told. He could feel the tightness around his chest begin to fade, but he continued to shake. His eyes filled with tears as he kept thinking back to the moment Roman was snatched from his arms and how he was unable to save Roman. He closed his eyes in frustration.
"Virgil! Don't stop now. Remember you're safe, you have nothing to fear here. I'm here for you know."
"I-I couldn't save him Logan. It was all so su-sudden and even though I had the ability to do something...I couldn't muster any strength. Be-because of me Ro-Ro-Roman's gone!"
"This is not your fault, none of this is your fault. You are currently experiencing an anxiety attack so your mind and body is responding to past fear and trauma. What you need to do now is look at me and continue breathing deeply in order to calm yourself down."
"I-I lost him Logan! Don't you understand that, it was because of me that Remus found us and took him. How can I calm down when who knows what he might be doing to him right now?"
"We will rescue him, all of us together, I promise."
"What can I even do to help when I'm like this?"
"You can get bigger."
"What?"
Virgil snapped his eyes open again at Logan's shocking remark. Did he just tell Virgil to get bigger in his current state? Was that supposed to be some kind of joke...no Logan didn't really tell jokes, especially in serious situations like this. Does that mean he was being serious?
Virgil: "You can't b-be serious! Right now I can barely control my emotions, let alone my size."
"That's exactly why I suggested you get bigger. Your growth is tied to your emotions and if you were to get bigger it would be equivalent to letting off steam. That's why it feels so good for you to grow, it's similar to relaxation techniques."
"Are you serious?"
"Always."
Still doubtful Virgil, decided to trust in Logan's words and closed his eyes in order to concentrate. He breathed in and then out as he started to expand cautiously. As he kept on he really did feel all his anxieties soften as his heart rate slowed and the nausea disappeared. Gradually, Virgil lifted his torso back up and un-clenched his chest as the pain had subsided. He opened his eyes and lowered his gaze down towards a now much smaller looking Logan.
"How do you feel now?"
"I feel a lot better, thank you."
"You're quite welcome, however I suggest you grow a bit more."
"I'm like 25 feet tall, why do I need to get bigger?"
"Now that you've calmed down we need to begin our rescue operation of Roman. At this moment Remus is still within this side of the realm, but Patton is still at the fort."
"Patton didn't come with you?"
"That is correct. He turned in early for the night after he tired himself out at the welcome party."
"So then you decided to come out here on your own? Why not try to wake up Patton first and come together?"
"I had no inclination to assume that something of this magnitude had occurred and I felt it best not to interrupt Patton's sleep cycle if there was no present urgency. As it was getting late, I began scanning the area for your footprints and eventually came across you collapsed on the ground and Roman nowhere to be found."
"Yeah, Remus appeared all of a sudden from behind the trees and ambushed us. He grabbed Roman right out of my arms as he was sleeping and pinned me to the ground by smashing his boot on top of me before I could react. I think because of how sudden it was I wasn't able to stay awake and passed out soon after."
"I hope you understand that with such an attack there was nothing you could do."
"I understand, it....still sucks though. If I hadn't grown so much, he may have never spotted us."
"Is that really how he found you?"
"What do you mean? How else would he have found us?"
"I can't be sure yet, but can you remember anything he may have said to you before passing out?"
"I'm not sure..."
Virgil closed his eyes and thought for a moment. It all happened so fast and all he could focus on was Roman's screams, but in the background he could faintly hear Remus laughing. As Virgil focused on that, Remus's face surfaced from the darkness and he could see his mouth forming words. What was he saying? Virgil blocked out anything else besides Remus and zoomed in on his mouth. Instantly, Virgil flung his eyes open and shouted,
"HE CALLED ME SMALL!"
"Excuse me?"
"I remembered! Remus was laughing and said it was funny how I had gotten smaller since the last time he saw me. Doesn't that mean he didn't see me when I was in the valley?"
"It would appear so."
"Th-then how did he find us?"
"It was both of your deodorant."
"You're kidding right?"
"I wish I was, but no. Remus has always enjoyed the smell and...taste of deodorant and is able to locate people based on the kind they use."
"That's so messed up."
"Indeed. Nonetheless, now you know that this incident wasn't your fault in the slightest."
"You're right. I feel a lot better now. Thank you again."
"Glad to hear it, now I still need you to grow bigger so we can make it back to the fort hastily and pick up Patton."
"You got it!"
With that Virgil jumped from 25 feet to 50 feet in a matter of seconds and reached down to scoop up Logan as he got to his feet. Virgil placed Logan on his shoulder gingerly and wiped away his remaining tears.
"You ready."
"Let's go!"
With that Virgil and Logan marched back to the fort to retrieve Patton and tell him what had happened. As they regrouped they set their sights on the caves Remus was known to hideout in and prayed Roman was still okay. However, he was far from it.
To be continued.