Forever Lies

~1~

TW: This chapter is starting right off with some strong language, but it is all perfectly fine after that. There wont be too much language in this, only occasionally. Just, fair warning.

FUCK.

That was the first thought I had as I collapsed on the floor in my room. Why did Thomas have to let Deceit stick around?

I took a heavy breath, trying to keep myself from going into full out panic mode. Deceit may have hinted, but luckily the only side that might have been smart enough to figure it out was way at the back of the room.

I replayed the entire situation again, carefully critiquing my time at the stand in my head, kicking myself for the "beacon of truth" line. I should have known Deceit of all people would use my own words against me.

It takes a liar to know a liar.

Those were his words, and I just wished they weren't so ungodly true.

"Virgil?"

A voice came through the door, but I was too distracted to notice which of the others it was.

Forcing my bangs down to cover my eyes, I hastily replied, "come in".

Roman took a step into the room, looking more awkward than regal at the time. After a second of surveying the area, he spoke.

"Wow, this looks a lot different than the last time I was in here."

"Well yeah, now it actually looks like my room instead of Thomas's living space."

"Ah, of course."

"What do you need, Princey?"

"Well, I actually came in here to, uh, check in on you."

I was immediately bewildered, and I'm pretty sure I didn't exactly hide it.
"What for?"

"Oh, well, it's just...I know that yours and Deciet's relationship is... strained at the moment, so I was just checking that having him around for that long today didn't... mess with you."

My bewildered look returned once more, but I collected myself enough to respond.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just still hard to have Deceit questioning my entire existence, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm just glad I didn't fall for his tricks like I did last time he came around."

"Well, you did give him like a million hints on how to impersonate Logan better."

"An unavoidable occurrence! But seriously, are you sure you're alright? I know that... well, I speculate that you used to hang out with the dark sides right?" He puts "dark sides" in quotes, then continues. "I mean, you certainly didn't hang with us, and I doubt even you could spend that much time in your room."

He has no idea how many hours I've spent in here, avoiding everyone.

"Thanks Roman, but I'm alright. I just, really hate having Deceit around. Rehash old pain and whatnot."

"Okay, so long as you are alright." He paused for a moment, almost leaning back and forth on his toes, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I guess I better get going. After an experience and video like that, I'm sure to have a lot of fans praising me." He gave his signature smile, but it was a bit more subtle than usual. He left the room, closing the door behind him.

I exhaled, not really sure of how I was feeling. I was definitely still on edge after that afternoon, but it was surprisingly helpful to talk to Roman about it, even if I did have to slip a few white lies into the conversation. What had I said, rehash old pain? At least that was a part of it. A lie of omission, like Logan had explained previously.

Forcing myself to look back once again on the evening's events, I pictured Deciet's emblem, and the shocked looks on everyone's faces when he revealed it.

"Well, I'd think it would be cool to have an emblem. A sign to show just where you've been. A signature mark."

"Sounds stupid to me, who would ever want to know that I was somewhere?"

"Well, whatever. I think it's cool. In fact, I'm gonna create one."

"Ha, yeah, right. Go for it."
~whoosh~
"There, see? Perfect for a master of deception such as myself."

"Whatever, sure. Choosing a two headed snake of all things. How unoriginal can you be?"

"Hey, I'm not the creative one. After all, I don't spend my time fighting dragon witches."

I snap back, pushing away the thoughts from a previous, long forgotten conversation. Now, the only thing I feel like doing is listening to my music.

Slipping on my headphones, I start a playlist, not paying too much attention. Death of a bachelor is what plays, and I relax as I let myself slip away into Brendon Urie's voice, extracting exactly what I need from the song.