Patton nervously tapped on the arm of his wheelchair, sitting at the edge of town. It was the same place Logan took him on that date so long ago, to gaze at the stars together. It looked so different during the day than at night. Patton preferred it when it was dark. Part of him dreads to come here every day now, but that's only because every day he's waited there so far, there's been no sign of the others returning.
He should have gone with them. He should have gone with them! His brother was taken by those... monsters that called themselves humans and he wasn't doing anything about it!
Who knows what Virgil's faced so far. He could have been tortured, he could have lost his wings, or his core, or his life-
"Patton, dear," Mrs. Miller interrupted his train of thought, probably for the best. "Why don't we head back home? It's going to get late soon, and I need to make dinner."
"Can I stay for just a little longer?" Patton asked, his voice quiet as his eyes never left the road leading away from town. It wasn't the road that led to his house, or the forest that Roman lived in. That was on the other side of town. Patton's actually never been down this road, and now he never wants to.
He heard Mrs. Miller sigh, "Just for a little bit." She moved and sat down on the nearby bench. They were quiet, and her eyes stared at the ground beneath her feet.
Minutes passed and Patton refused to look away from the road. Just as Mrs. Miller took a breath to tell him that they should head back, Patton gasped loudly.
She looked up and saw a carriage just coming into sight. Looking closer however, she saw several more and groups of people walking alongside it all. What was pulling the first carriage shimmered in the sunlight.
"It's... Is that...?" Patton didn't dare finish his question, tears springing to his eyes instantly.
Mrs. Miller stood up instantly and went behind Patton's chair. "May I?" She was asking to push him. Patton, like many other wheelchair users, doesn't like it when someone touches their chair without being asked, unless they're close to that person.
"Please," Patton answered. He knew she was going to run and push his chair to meet up with them as fast as possible.
And she did just that, running as fast as possible and pretty much using it to keep herself from tripping and falling from running too fast.
It took longer than either of them would have liked to reach the first carriage, Logan sitting on the front of it. The moment he saw them, he got up and started to climb down even though the carriage was still moving.
"Mom! Patton!" he shouted, rushing over to them as Darrell started to speed up his pace to get to town faster.
Logan jumped into his mothers arms, only to lean down and bring Patton into the hug. He felt tears forming in his eyes but didn't let go to wipe them away.
"We-we found him," Logan told them. "He's alive, he's back, Virgil is back."
"Oh dear, what happened to your glasses?" Mrs. Miller asked, pulling away from the hug and holding Logan's face.
"I-I got hit, but I'm fine now," Logan explained.
"Wh-where's Virgil?" Patton asked, looking around.
"He's in the carriage with Roman." Logan looked at the first one as they turned and started walking back to the town together. "He's... he got hurt, so he's resting. I promise the moment we get to town you can see him."
"Is he okay? Will-will he be okay?"
Logan looked down in shame. "I... I think so." Physically, yes, mentally? Not for a long time. Logan couldn't even begin to imagine the horror that Virgil must have gone through.
Patton caught on by what Logan meant quickly enough. He wasn't stupid, of course he knew it was going to take a long time for Virgil to feel safe again. When he and Roman were attacked by hunters and Roman was shot, he was scared to return to the forest. This was even worse.
Still, neither said their thoughts as they continued to walk. "What about everyone else? Are you all okay?" Patton asked
"Luckily no one died, so I believe so," Logan explained. "All major injuries have been healed with potions."
"What about your own?" Mrs. Miller asked.
"My injuries were minor, I didn't need a potion and refused to take one until after the fight was over. Only then, when I was sure no one else needed one, did I heal myself."
"But you're okay?" Patton questioned him. "You can walk fine? You don't see double?"
"I'm alright, love, I promise. There are others we should worry about, the ones that we have saved for instance." Logan looked behind him. Only people from Matela were walking, the creatures that had chosen to travel to town were in carriages, too weak to walk long. Several others had escaped into the forest, away from all humans.
"How many are there?" Mrs. Miller asked.
Her son looked down to the ground, watching where he stepped absentmindedly. "Quite a bit, we found a lot being held prisoner. We're trying to take care of them, but they're all scared and don't trust humans."
"Can't really blame them."
"We're going to need to find a place for all of them. Hopefully we'll have enough food for them all," Patton said. "Did... are all of the hunters dead?"
"Unless any escaped, then yes. Roman destroyed the base as well, it seemed to have taken a lot out of him. He still insists on taking care of Virgil despite this."
"Have they been eating? Has everyone been eating?"
"We've all been doing our best, however Virgil can't stomach much right now." Logan purposely left out Roman refusing to eat.
"Oh... he has iron poisoning, doesn't he."
The alchemist sighed, "Yes, he does. Roman's magic hasn't been able to help him, but Remus has. He was able to heal his burns, though he has some bad scars now. The iron poisoning is taking longer to heal."
Patton took a deep breath as soon as they finally made it back to town. Several people had soon come out from their homes, most being kids. Parents and older siblings that had left to help ran to their younger family, pulling them into hugs.
Mrs. Miller frowned before rushing to where Darrell was. "Follow me, let's take them to my home. I already have a spare room set up for Virgil," she told him.
Darrell purred slightly, doing as she said. It took longer than anyone was comfortable with, several of them wanting to just rest. Some had already left to go take care of their families.
As soon as Darrell stopped, all the other carriages stopped as well. Logan went to open the back door, Patton quickly following. Mrs. Miller didn't follow, instead she helped others unpack and directed people on what to do or where to go. They have been planning this whole time after all.
"We have arrived," Logan said with a bright smile.
Patton tried to peak in, barely able to see the inside since he couldn't stand. He saw Cynthia, Elliot, and Griffin first, then he looked around desperately for his brother. Further back in the carriage, he saw Roman sitting next to someone who was laying down on the ground.
"Virgil!" he called, trying to stand up as Logan climbed into the carriage. He held onto the carriage to help him, trying to get a better view.
Roman gave him a sad smile before looking down at the sleeping fairy. "Love, wake up, we're home," he cooed, softly shaking Virgil's shoulder. He groaned and tried to curl up, but the ache from moving his muscles woke him up. His eyes blinked open and he looked up at Roman. "There we go. We're home now, dear."
"H-home?" Virgil asked softly.
"Yup, well, we're in town at least. I'm going to lift you up and carry you into the Miller's home, is that okay?"
The fairy nodded, closing his eyes again. He bit back another groan when Roman slid an arm under his back and legs, slowly lifting him up.
Logan helped Elliot and Cynthia off of the carriage, Griffin jumping down after them without help. Patton only gave them a glance but refused to let his eyes leave Virgil any longer, his legs starting to shake from the effort of standing too long.
"Patton, he'll be okay, you need to sit," Logan told him.
But he shook his head, feeling tears well up in his eyes when he saw the bandages wrapped around Virgil's wings and the burn scars around his arms. His voice was quiet when he asked, "What did they do to him?"