Marks

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Hi! I know it's late/early (It's 3:20 XD) but I had HW to do with some friends and they're home now and I can't sleep so I finally finished this chapter. So, here it is!

Hope you enjoy it!

{Author's POV}

Virgil woke up, staring at...his ceiling?

The last thing he remembered was being in the kitchen with Roman, and...

Oh God.

Oh God no!

"What have I done?!" Virgil cried, burying his head in his hands.

A knock on the door startled him. Slowly, the door creaked open, to reveal Roman, who smiled kindly when he saw him.

"Hey there, Hot Topic." Roman greeted, closing the door and sitting on the bed. "Is everything ok? I heard yelling." he said.

"Yeah, fine." Virgil instinctively grumbled.

Roman sighed, reaching out to pat his shoulder, but stopping, his hand lowering back to his side. Virgil noticed the gesture out of the corner of his eye, and sighed.

"You saw...you know." he admitted, unable to bring himself to look Roman in the eye.

"Virgil, my feelings for you have not changed. Honestly, it hurt watching you go through that. Does that, whatever that was...Does it happen often?" Roman asked, trying to hide the pain in his voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, it happens...pretty often." Virgil admitted.

"Why? How? What is it?!" Roman asked.

Virgil sighed. He never liked explaining his "power".

More like a curse.

"It's...I don't know too much about where it comes from. One day I discovered I can filter the anxiety Thomas gets and take it on myself. The Shadows...they're sort of like a physical embodiment of the anxiety. As I take on more anxiety, my...power grows. Sometimes it gets... violent. Overwhelming."

Roman's heart shattered at the sheer amount of exhaustion and pain in Virgil's voice. Like he was far beyond his years, and had been dealing with such trauma for much longer than he'd been around. He could see Virgil's shoulders trembling, and knew that he was either crying, or another attack was coming.

"Virgil? Are you ok? Please, look at me." Roman asked gently, placing a finger underneath his chin. Virgil hesitantly allowed Roman to lift his chin, so that Roman could see the tears in his eyes.

"When I...When I was a...one of them...I would almost never do it. Thomas didn't have much to be anxious about, but I let him have it all. He...He told me I had to. He told me I was protecting Thomas." Virgil said, his voice breaking as he struggled to get a grip on himself and his words.

Roman quickly pulled Virgil into a hug, rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him. "Shh, Virgil. You're going to work yourself up again. It's ok, Virgil, you're ok. Breathe." he said, whispering gently in the boy's ear. Roman recognized Virgil trying to do the breathing technique he had taught Thomas. What was it again?

Finally, it clicked. "Good, Virgil. That's good. In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. Keep going, Virgil, you got it." Roman encouraged, a small smile forming on his lips as he noticed Virgil calm down significantly.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't...I didn't think I was hurting him." Virgil sniffed, and Roman finally saw him for what he really was. Not the dark, gloomy guy who always brought Thomas down. He was a young, scared kid, messed up by his time with the Dark Sides.

What had they done to him?

"Virgil...Who told you that? Who told you you had to let Thomas feel anxious?" Roman asked, though he heard a lurking suspicion he already knew. He needed to hear it.

"D...Deceit. He...He always told all of us how to do things. Sometimes I would tell myself that I wasn't protecting Thomas, and that what I was doing was hurting him, but Deceit would tell me I was only...lying to myself, and he would know. He told us everything we did was for Thomas. And if he caught me using my power, he would..." Virgil stopped, turning away from Roman as the memories thrashed around in his mind.

"Virgil, if it pains you to tell me, I will not push it, but I will never judge you for what that snake-faced freak put you through. None of it is, and never will be, your fault." Roman reminded him. Virgil simply nodded, staring down at the bed in front of him.

A knock on the door startled the two. "Virgil! It's breakfast time," Patton called.

"Do you want to come down to eat, or I can bring you some food? You still look kind of tired," Roman asked.

"No, I'll...I'll be down in a minute. I don't want to talk about anything, though. Not yet." Virgil said.

"You got it, Doctor Gloom. I'll tell the others. I will see you downstairs." Roman said, giving him a smile as he got up off the bed and left, closing the door behind him.

Virgil sighed, climbing out of bed and trudging over to the mirror. He eyed his appearance, running a hand through his slightly disheveled hair and fixing his makeup a bit. He stared at himself for a moment, before lifting up his shirt, and turning around just enough to see the mark on his lower back-

-The storm cloud.

You'll always be one of us, Virgil. Only we have marks like this. They had to weed us out from the Good ones!" he spat as Virgil turned and walked out the door, never looking back.

Virgil sighed as he stared at the image. Darkness seemed to radiate from it, pulsing like a heartbeat. He lowered his shirt, and left the room, feeling his words ringing in his ears...

You'll always be one of us.



Well, it's not a lot, but there it is! Little sprinkle of suspense, Virgil has a mark now. Fun! :D

Anyway, to find out more about what will happen with that, stay tuned for the next chapter! I leave for break tomorrow, so it will be soon! ;)

As always, thank you all for reading! Your feedback and feelings mean the world, and I appreciate you all for supporting me. You all are wonderful in every way. :) <3

See ya next time! Bye!

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