Forever Lies

~19~

Roman's POV

I had been in here for who knows how long. I had not come out since we realized Virgil read gone. I was honestly surprised Patton hadn't come to check on me, since I wasn't coming out to eat. Either he's really in his own head, or he knows about my hidden mini fridge.

I went to my computer, subconsciously clicking over to youtube. That's strange. Thomas was supposed to upload yesterday. The video is done, so why isn't it posted? The last time he missed an upload like this was because... oh no.

"I GOT IT!" Logan's voice rang through, quickly followed by a pounding upon my door. "I know where Virgil is!"

That caused me to shoot right up, opening my door for the first time in forever.

"You know where he is?" I questioned.

Logan took a step back, clearly surprised by how quickly I got there. He adjusted his tie. "Yes, I believe so. I'm going to go tell Patton. Please go to the living room."

He continued down the hall, Patton's room being between mine and Virgil's. I went briskly to the living room, sitting stiffly on the couch, my leg tapping and my fingers drumming impatiently.

Finally, Logan emerged, a tearful Patton trailing behind. Patton took a seat next to me, looking up at Logan. I turned my attention to him as well.

The normally composed side looked extremely disheveled. His hair was a mess, and his glasses had smudges. Though it didn't seem like much, it was impossible to miss compared to his usual look. He held a journal in one hand, obviously looking for a certain page.

"So" he started, looking up. "I spent the last several days going over maps and books all detailing different areas of the mind. After compiling a list of possible places Anxiety may have chosen to go to, I have found the most likely. However it will still be difficult to get to him."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, we can get to anywhere in the mind easy. We'll be able to get him. Where is he?"

"The dark mind palace."

"Oh." I immediately deflated.

I had spent days looking for the entrance. Back when I was a teenager trying to pull pranks on Remus, and more seriously as an adult to keep him from my own room. It wasn't on any map, and no clear entrance could be found anywhere.

"Exactly," Logan said, redirecting me to reality. "But there is some good news. I was watching the security tapes, and saw Remy enter our side of the mind."

"We have security cameras?" Patton asked.

"Of course. They are merely to monitor where the sides are located in the mind at any present time. Anyway, Remy came over here to make use of our coffee machine at 3am."

"Figures," I said. Logan glared.

"So, I saw Remy enter the hallway after he got his coffee. Now, we don't have cameras located in the hall. But, thanks to myself having left Virgil's door open, I was able to see him walk past, allowing us to use deductive reasoning and infer that the pathway to the dark mind palace is at the end of the hall."

Oh wow. The book germ did a better job figuring it out than I ever did. Failure. Stop, we have a Virgil to save.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I stood up, fully ready to head down the hall. Patton, however, stayed seated.

"What if... what if he doesn't wanna come back?" He asked, looking down.

I turned back, but before I could say anything, Logan answered him.

"He will, Patton. He was probably just angry at something. It would make no logical sense for him to stay over there. Besides, I'm sure he's missing you. It's been awhile, and I couldn't imagine even going a day without seeing you." He smiled kindly at the other, more warmth in that one look that I'd ever seen him have. And that seemed to be noticed by Patton as well.

"Thanks, Lo." Patton sprung up, some of the old spark back in his eyes. Logan tried to resume an indifferent expression, but the way he glanced to the side at Patton said otherwise.

I ran to the end of the hall, starting to examine the wall directly next to Virgil's room. There was nothing unusual about it, though. Logan was looking at the wall next to mine, and Patton was studying the across.

Logan was carefully examining the portrait on his wall, looking for something within the brush strokes. Eventually, me and Patton gave up on our sides. The moral guy sat a little down the hall to stay out of the way, and I stood in Virgil's doorway. After about a half hour, Logan turned around, groaning in frustration.

"I thought that the picture would hold something. But its just... just as useless as the one in Thomas' living room!"

I rolled my eyes at that. "Well, I'd say maybe the path is behind it, but the picture doesn't come off the wall."

"What?" Logan asked, turning to me suddenly.

"Yeah. I've tried to move it before. It's stuck on the wall, attached at one point. You can kinda spin it there."

Logan sighed. "That would have been useful information." He walked back, pushing the frame to the left. It turned, and he held it up, studying the wooden planks behind it. But from where I stood, it all looked normal.

Ten more minutes passed, and Logan was still stuck. I was kind of getting bored, as we were literally watching him stare at a wall. Patton wasn't even really looking anymore, playing with the paws on the sleeves of his cardigan.

"Ugh!" Logan exclaimed, clearly frustrated with the lack of progress. Suddenly he kicked the bottom of the wall, shocking both me and Patton. Even more surprising was was the fact that the wooden plank he kicked moved up several feet before falling back in its place.

My head tilted, and I walked over to the wall. I crouched down, gripping h one plank at the bottom. Throwing it up, it moved almost as if on a track. I heard a click and the plank locked in place. Logan bent down, grabbing the one next to it, bringing it up as well. A third one came up, and a clear pathway was revealed.

Patton walked over, and all three of us peered into the hallway.

"Welp." I said, standing confidently. "Into the unknown."