Over the course of a few days Virgil continued to sleep with Roman in his bed and wake up every morning to a grateful kiss. Sometimes Roman would sleep on top of Virgil when he had nightmares in order to calm down. A week has gone by since the Light Sides run in with Remus. Roman was slowly, but surely recovering by sticking close to Virgil and talking with Logan during lunch. Things were finally returning to normalcy, but another important matter needed to be addressed.
Today Virgil had a meeting with Logan in his study. He was unsure about what this talk would consist of, but Logan's tone was stern. Not that, that wasn't characteristic to his personality, but something about it made it sound extra stern. Virgil was a ball of nerves as he meekly made his entrance.
"Hey Logan. What is it you wanted to talk with me about?"
"Ah Virgil right on time. Please come in and have a seat first."
"O-Okay."
Sheepishly, Virgil sat himself down in the chair provided for him in front of Logan's desk. He felt like he had been sent to the principal's office as he twiddled his thumbs. What was this all about anyway? He didn't do something wrong right? Virgil really couldn't think of one thing that would have made Logan upset with him so he continued to stew in awkward silence until Logan spoke up,
Logan: "Now Virgil there's no need to look so uneasy. I've only asked you to come here to talk over the data I've compiled about your size-shifting ability and another matter afterwards."
Virgil sighed with relief,
"Oh man it was just about that? Thank goodness, you had me worried I'd need to do more tests for you Logan."
"An understandable conclusion, but no tests anymore. From the data I've compiled I believe I understand your ability sufficiently enough."
"Cool....what did you find?"
"For starters we've established that your original height was 50 feet tall, but now that this unique ability of yours has awakened you can now expand to 1000 feet as your maximum. You've climbed to this height twice now, once when your control was weak and another when you had developed it more. Thus, resulting in you not shrinking like last time."
"Yeah I noticed that after I finally got Roman back safely and tossed Remus into the rift. It hadn't even dawned on me that I still had perfect control over my growth until we picked up Patton and you in the forest. I'm kind of relieved I didn't shrink again."
"Indeed, such a draw-back might have been a problem in the unforeseeable future. It would also appear that you can't shrink yourself the same way you can grow."
"Mhm...I tried once when I was with Roman and Patton on the training grounds. Even though I could picture it the feeling that came over me was unpleasant."
"Unpleasant?"
"Like unnatural...."
"I suppose that's a good sign as you were originally giant and your natural being is still such. Wanting to forcibly shrink probably goes against your nature."
"My nature huh."
Virgil looked down at his hands and pondered to himself about that night with Remus. He had scared him, one of the monsters that tormented Thomas and the others. Did that make him even worse than a monster? If so then what was he, why did he have this ability?
"Logan, d-do you have any ideas about what I am?"
Logan wasn't usually a sentimental type, but in that moment he rose from his desk and walked casually over to Virgil's side. Gently he rested his hand on Virgil's shoulder and spoke with a charming smile on his face,
"You're family Virgil. You may have worries about these changes, but it's a process you are not alone to deal with. We are all here for you so take comfort in that thought."
Virgil was stunned, he had no idea Logan was capable of riddling off such sweet words. He must have been taking lessons from Roman and Patton. Logan was always the quiet observer type after-all.
"Thanks Logan, I needed to hear that."
Tenderly, Virgil rested his head on Logan's arm for a moment of affection. It was at this time Virgil had a startling realization.
"Now that I think about it, you never once expressed any fear when my secret was exposed or since then. Weren't you afraid of me too?"
"Of course not Virgil. You've never given me a reason to fear you."
"I-I....thank you."
Virgil had become teary eyed. To think this whole time he feared himself more than those around him. He finally felt a sense of peace in himself as he jumped from his chair and quickly embraced Logan. Logan on the other hand was perplexed by Virgil's sudden embrace and frantically searched his memory for how to properly respond in situations like this. Yet, he was never given the chance as Virgil pushed him awake in shock.
"Ah sorry Logan...I forgot you don't really enjoy hugs. My emotions got the better of me."
"It's alright. Some affection is good for a healthy mindset from time to time. Though, I think that might have been enough for a lifetime in my case."
Virgil laughed, whether that was a joke or not.
"Oh no, Patton's going to be so disappointed to hear that."
Logan smirked.
"Extremely. Now to continue with our previous discussion if you will."
Logan motioned towards the chair void of Virgil's presence as he returned to his desk. Virgil scurried back hastily.
"To continue, I've come to the conclusion that this ability of yours is tied to your emotions obviously, but is also how you were always meant to be."
"What?! I-I'm meant to be like this? That doesn't make any sense though. The Dark Sides are giant because of them destabilizing and the Light Sides are normal since they have a stable core. Yet, I'm neither of those."
Logan: "That is correct. However, your core is stable just the same as mine, Roman, and Patton's. You are effectively a Light Side now, yet you've retained Dark Side attributes. These include your size-shifting, the ability to shift non-living objects, create rifts, and indirectly affecting Thomas."
"I'm still affecting him like before...that's terrible."
"Now no need to be so glum about this revelation. All we need to do is go see Thomas an-"
"GO SEE THOMAS!?"
Virgil sprang from his seat yet again in surprise. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd have the chance to actually meet Thomas in person. As a former Dark Side he didn't possess the summoning attribute like the Light Sides. Without it you could never manifest in the physical world.
"Can I really go see him?!"
"You can. As a Light Side you now possess the summoning attribute that allows you to summon yourself to Thomas or be summoned by Thomas."
Amazing, Virgil thought! He wondered what the physical world would be like. Is it similar to the mindscape? Would he be able to hug Thomas and properly apologize for his past actions? Would Thomas like him? At first Virgil's thoughts were pleasant as he imagined his first meeting. Progressively darker ideas started to surface.
What if something went wrong while in the physical world? Logan had said his emotions were tied to his size-shifting so what if he got overwhelmed and started to grow while there? Could he grow in the physical world? If he could, what would Thomas think? These and more thoughts flooded his mind as a cold sweat formed on his face. Virgil noticeably started to tremble as he began mumbling to himself. Logan became alert to Virgil's change in demeanor and once again walked over to him. He got down on his knees right in front of the chair and held Virgil's hands.
Logan: "Virgil, hey Virgil, tell me what's wrong."
Virgil: "What i-if something happens with my ability when I go meet Thomas? You said it yourself that my power is connected to my emotions so it's possible I could start growing while there right? What if the summoning messes with my body and I can't stop? What if when I get summoned it's when I'm giant sized? What height am I going to be when I get there anyway?"
Logan tightened his grip on Virgil's hands.
"You need to calm down. Yes, there are some unknowns, but right now you're being irrational."
"No, no, you just said there are some UNKNOWNS! That means something could happen. I could grow so big I take up the entire room and hurt Thomas by crushing him! Maybe I'll outgrow the house, then the neighborhood, town, city....."
Virgil continued to ramble on.
Logan was becoming increasingly concerned by this sudden development and had no idea how to handle it. It was time to call in reinforcements. Quickly, he got up from the floor and made his way out the room to go find Roman and Patton to help him talk down Virgil.
Virgil: "What if being in the physical world and close to Thomas increases my powers and I go past 1000 feet? How big would I get? Could I even control myself after that? Would I just continue to grow? What if I get so big that I could hold the planet in the palm of my hand?"
*BAM*
Patton: "Now hold your horses there kiddo! Know that I'd still love you even if you did get that big, but let's be realistic for a second."
Roman: "What Patton said. Even I couldn't imagine you ever getting that large. So you have nothing to be worried about."
Both Patton and Roman had abruptly busted into the room to help calm Virgil down. Patton moved towards the front and kneeled down to be eye level with Virgil. Roman took the backside and softly wrapped his arms around Virgil in a hug. Patton grabbed onto Virgil's hands and placed both to his face and caressed them with his cheeks.
"You're safe kiddo. We love you and we're here for you."
"Thomas is going to love you just like we do and he'll be so excited to finally meet you."
"You have nothing to be anxious about because we are all a part of Thomas."
"That's right."
Who was that? Was that in my head?
"Wha-"
In a flash of white Virgil squeezed his eyes shut until he heard the voice again.
"Hello Virgil."
The light had faded substantially as Virgil opened his eyes to peer at the figure in front of him. They had their hand outstretched towards him and a smile on their face. They felt familiar, like a friend you hadn't seen since childhood. Virgil gingerly reached out to touch the figures hand as he rose to his feet. All those negative thoughts had completely vanished as he vision cleared. Who he saw in front of him now was none other than Thomas himself.
"Th-Thomas?"
"Yep it's me, in the flesh."
Virgil couldn't believe it. He was here with Thomas in the physical world and not at giant size to boot. He couldn't help himself from crying. There was so much he wanted to say, to apologize for. He didn't know where to start as he just kept sobbing.
"I missed you too."
Suddenly, Thomas had pressed himself into Virgil's chest and latched his arms onto his back in an embrace. Instantly, Virgil clung onto Thomas in response and continued to bawl. Just those few words unlocked past memories long forgotten in Virgil's heart. Before his own destabilization and the moments he shared with Thomas in his youth. This wasn't their first meeting, it was a reunion!
Virgil: "I'm home!"
To be continued.