Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 29: Just Skipping Past Darrell's Power, Huh?

CW: panic, talk of previous injuries and fight

Virgil was sluggish and heavy when he woke up. He didn't want to open his eyes and just wanted to stay asleep, for once his head wasn't loud and was just filled with white noise. Did he have anything he needed to do today? What day was it anyway?

"That's all he remembers?" he heard a hushed voice ask. There was slight movement and the speaker sighed. "Okay, I'll go check on his injuries and see if he's okay then."

Injuries? Someone was hurt? Was Virgil hurt? His hand sorta ached, the bandages itched horribly.

The fairy frowned as he tried to open his eyes. The moment he did it felt like the light was stabbing them, making him groan as he squeezed them shut. He heard more movement and felt small dips in his bed where something was walking on it.

Then he heard Darrell yip loudly, nudging Virgil's cheek with his nose. The fairy groaned more at the noise, his sensitive ears aching as he reached up to cover them.

"Virgil?" Patton asked, reaching over and touching his brother's shoulder.

The fairy flinched, tensing up as he looked over seeing his brother's concerned face. He wondered for just a moment what was going on before it all hit him. The hunters. Roman.

He tried to sit up fast, only falling back down with a quiet yelp of pain when he put too much pressure on his injured hand. He tensed again as hands pushed him down onto the bed.

"Wait..." he slurred, feeling his heart jump to his throat. His mind took him back to the hunters, when they held him down on the ground, their hands holding his wings. "Wait... no, don't." It was so hard to speak, his tongue was heavy and it felt like cotton was in his lungs.

"It's okay, you're safe now," Patton reassured him. "You're not going to get hurt."

"Ro... where... Where's Roman?" Virgil asked, forcing his eyes open. They both used their magic, the hunters saw them, and then Roman got really hurt. Virgil remembered the blood, there was so much blood.

"Roman's okay, he's on the couch," Logan told him, moving into view. "He's resting right now, he's safe."

Virgil sighed, letting his head rest against the pillows. "Oh thank the stars." Darrell laid down next to him, nudging his arm with his nose still. The fairy reached over with his uninjured hand and rested it on the fox's head.

"Virgil, are you okay?" Patton asked.

"I'm... I'm fine. I'm just tired." He frowned in thought as he tried to remember what exactly happened. After Roman got hurt, Virgil grabbed a healing potion and healed his shoulder. Then there were two living hunters left, Darrell had killed the others in a bloody mess. Virgil had done his best to tamper with the living hunters' memories, replacing Roman, Darrell, and Virgil with monsters, actual unknown monsters. Using all that magic had drained him, and he ended up passing out while trying to carry Roman home. He wanted help checking over their injuries.

"You've been out for hours," Logan told him.

"Roman too, he just woke up a few minutes ago," Patton added.

Virgil sat up again, much slower this time as he kept his weight off of his injured hand. "Can-can I see him?"

"I'm not even sure if you can walk. You need to rest or it'll take longer to get better."

"Please? I-I just... I need to see him for myself."

Logan sighed, "It would make things easier if they were both in the living room. I knew we shouldn't have separated them, they both panicked about the other's well being."

"Well the couch could only fit one person, and I didn't want them to be crowded in Virgil's bed. We have only one other room in the house and..." Patton faded off. The other room in the house was their parents' old room. Other than when it's occasionally dusted, the last it was touched was after their mother's funeral, straightened out after dealing with the will.

"Just-just take me to him," Virgil told them as he swung his legs off the bed. With Logan's help, he managed to stand up, though he had to lean on the alchemist.

Slowly and carefully, the four of them made their way to the living room. Logan held onto the fairy as he stumbled, practically dragging his feet. When the couch was in view, Virgil could see Roman sitting up, leaning against the arm of the couch to keep himself up. He was pale, and his eyebrows were furrowed in pain, but it was much better than when he was bleeding out.

The witch looked up when he heard them, his eyes immediately darting to Virgil. They both were quiet for a moment before the fairy felt tears form in his eyes. Oh... shit. Somehow seeing Roman again made it all hit Virgil, how everything with the hunters really happened.

He stumbled a bit as he tried to quicken his pace to the witch's side, Logan catching him as he continued to help him walk. Darrell beat him to the couch, jumping up next to Roman and yipping in joy as he licked his cheeks.

Roman smiled for a moment as the alchemist helped Virgil sit next to them, but the witch's eyes betrayed him as tears started to well up and spill over. His smile wavered before falling before he grabbed Virgil, pulling him into a tight hug.

The fairy returned the hug with no hesitation, shaking hard. "You're okay?" he asked with a trembling voice. "Are-are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Roman reassured him. "I'm alright, everything's going to be okay."

"They... they saw," Virgil cried into the witch's shoulder.

"I know, I know."

"They saw my wings." Patton's shoulders dropped in fear as his brother said their worst fear. He looked over to Logan, who looked just as horrified. "I couldn't- I couldn't move an- and I-"

Roman held Virgil tighter as he broke down into sobs. He looked down at the dark purple feathers, seeing that they were ruffled. Feeling how hard the fairy was trembling broke his heart. "Virgil? What happened after I was shot?"

"I-I couldn't- I tried to attack the one who shot y-you, but-but then my cloak was pulled o-off and I was pinned to the gr-ground. Th-then Darrell- he... He was really big, and-and his fur turned into metal. He tackled them before they could c... cut off my wings. I-I ran to you an-and..."

"I remember, you saved me." Roman held on the back of Virgil's head, slowly running his fingers through his hair. "You saved me."

"Darrell he..." The fairy hiccupped. "He killed two of them. Th-then I used my m-magic to erase us from the memories of the other two. I-I created new memories, so it would seem like there were monsters in the woods so they wouldn't return. I d-don't even know if I did it correctly. God I-I hope I did it correctly. Wh-what if I messed up? What if they remember? They'll send monster hunters after us!"

"It's okay, I know you did everything you could," Roman cooed, rubbing a circle on Virgil's shoulder with his thumb. "If they remember, or if they send monster hunters after us, then I'll do everything I can to protect us." It was the least he could do since he couldn't protect him earlier. Just like he couldn't protect his brother.