Everyone in the room was now staring at Roman with shocked expressions, none of them having expected him to say that.

Sure Thomas had known he had feelings for Virgil and Patton had sort of guessed but neither of them had expected him to already be so smitten with the youngest trait.

Virgil himself was unable to tear his eyes away from the sobbing trait in front of him, his mind in complete chaos as he struggled to absorb what Roman had just said.

"You..... You..." he whispered, unable to form coherent sentences.

Roman nodded and something in Virgils mind seemed to snap as he sank to the floor with a loud cry of anguish.

The voice from before was loud and obnoxious in his head but even in his delusional state he could hear the sincerity of Romans confession.

"He's lying! They all hate you! It's all fake!" the voice shouted but Virgil shook his head and yelled back "Get out of my head! You're wrong!"

Roman felt the energy trapping him suddenly release him and watched as all the energy in the room started to swirl around Virgil like an isolated tornado.

"Why would he love you? You're a monster! You're going to kill Thomas!" the voice insisted "You are a danger to everyone here and we both know the best way to stop you is death."

Virgil let out a sob as he remembered the way Thomas had screamed and how his energy was responsible.

The voice seemed to pick up on Virgils weakness because it said "You almost destroyed the mindspace with the energy, how do you expect to be able to go back to the way things used to be when a small panic attack could result in Thomas going into a coma? Face the facts, deep down you're a dangerous animal."

"Virgil?" Roman asked in a soft voice, ignoring the others and how they were still staring at him.

Virgils eyes locked with his and he noticed how they seemed to be changing from normal to all black and back again, as if Virgil was having some kind of battle with himself.

The voice in Virgils head let out a predatory growl and tried to send the energy blasting towards Roman but Virgil let out a shriek "No! I won't let you hurt him!"

The energy missed Roman and instead crashed into the TV, sending debris everywhere. Virgil looked shocked at managing to redirect the energy but his eyes turned back to black as he lost control again.

The energy spread out across the room, wrapping around the ankles of Roman and Patton until they couldn't move.

Logan and Thomas, who were on the stairs, could only watch as Virgil got to his feet and smirked at Roman.

"Oh that was clever. You nearly got to him but he's too weak to fight at this point. I didn't expect you to say what you did and neither did he but it doesn't matter because it's all lies."

Romans face was tracked with tears as he tried to move towards Virgil but couldn't. "Who even are you?" he asked in frustrated voice.

Virgil sighed and rolled his pitch black eyes. "I already said, I'm Virgil. I guess the more accurate answer would be I'm the Virgil that you all fear and that he tries to pretend doesn't exist but it's all the same thing."

Roman remembered what Virgil had said before about how the medication was taking away the rules and limits he had set himself so he didn't become a monster. He hadn't realised Virgil had meant that literally.

"Deciet knows about all this doesn't he?" Patton asked.

Virgil turned to look at Patton with a grin "ah, Jakey boy, he did try to 'calm Virgil down' as he puts it but I convinced Virgil to check on Thomas and here we are."

Patton exchanged a worried look with Logan as Virgil continued "If snakey Jakey really cared he'd be here but I guess his jealousy got the better of him because I don't see any sign of him."

"He does care and he wanted to come find you but...." Roman managed to get out but trailed off as he realised something. "That mist that was winding around our ankles as we talked in the mindspace.... You.... You influenced us into forcing Deciet to distract Preston!"

Virgil let out a chuckle "Oh, well done Roman. You're not just a pretty face after all."

"w... Why? If you're truly a part of Virgil surely you must care for Deciets wellbeing? You know what Preston is capable of yet you don't seem to be phased by the idea of Deciet suffering through that." Logan asked, his voice wobbling at the thought of what Preston might be doing.

"Jacob is of little concern to me because he is just one more thing holding me back from reaching complete control. So no I don't care what Preston is doing to him right now and I would happily watch if it weren't for weak little Virgils want to save his 'friends'." The cold uncaring tone made everyone in the room shudder.

Patton had a thoughtful expression on his face as he pieced together what Virgil had said. "Complete control? What does that mean?"

Virgil scowled at Patton "You're incredibly nosy, did you know that?"

A tendril of energy suddenly wrapped around Pattons mouth, stopping him from speaking.

Thomas, who had been watching silently the entire time, suddenly stood up and frowned. He'd had an idea.

"Virgil, or whoever you are, I get that you're powerful and everything but it's still my mind. I am not going to sit and watch you do all this when I'm sure I have the power to stop you."

Virgil was staring at him with a raised eyebrow and an arrogant smile on his face, his eyes still black. "oooh what are you going to do? You gonna tell me what I'm doing is wrong and cry at me?"

Thomas shivered but stared Virgil directly in the eyes as he said "No, I'm going to force you to let Patton and Roman go."

Virgil laughed so Thomas took a deep breath and did something he'd only ever done once in his life.

"Anxiety! That is what you are! I am strong enough to overcome you and you do not control me or my life. You have no sway over me and you can't ignore me when I tell you what to do."

Virgil let out a gasp and clutched his chest, his eyes flicking from black to normal and back again. A loud growl came from his mouth and he took a few steps towards Thomas but he stumbled and sank to his knees.

"N... No! What are you.... Doing?" Virgil shouted.

"Thomas?" Roman asked with a worried look.

Thomas had tears running down his face but he kept his eyes on Virgil.

"You can't hurt the others or me! Let them go!" he commanded and Virgil started to pant as the black energy wrapped around Pattons mouth and legs slowly started to retract.

Roman looked down and found the energy round his ankles also retreating until all the energy was shimmering up across Virgils skin.

Thomas took another deep breath and said "Virgil, I know this isn't you so please please forgive me for using this tactic on you. I have no other choice."

Virgils eyes widened and the black vanished for a second as Virgil panted out "Thomas.... I'm sorry...." then the black came back full force.

Thomas reached out his hands and placed them on Virgils shoulders while saying "You're nothing. I will not be controlled by my anxiety."

Virgil let out a small shriek and collapsed, the energy disappearing into his now unconscious form.

Thomas fell to his knees next to Virgil, sobs shaking his body as he ran a hand through Virgils hair.

" What...... What was that?" Roman asked in a shocked voice.

Thomas sniffed and wiped his face as he looked up at his creativity. "A long time ago Virgil was doing his usual job of making me anxious and although I was panicky I had a huge build up of annoyance and anger. I was so annoyed at how Virgil always seemed to show up at the least convenient time and I ended up shouting at him to leave me alone and that he was just anxiety, he didn't have complete control of me or my life. He had this weird reaction and ended up collapsing, I immediately felt bad so I sat with him until he regained consciousness. He was in tears and looked so scared when he saw me that I promised myself that no matter how annoying he was I would never do that again. He explained to me at a later date that because I'm the host I have the power to reign in you guys or grant you more control when I deem it fit. I never wanted to have to do this again but it was the only way."

Roman knelt next to Thomas and engulfed him in a hug. They were joined by Patton while Logan knelt the other side of Virgil, an expression of intense concentration on his face as he looked at the unconscious trait.

Thomas sighed and pulled out of the hug. "What even was that? Do you think it was Preston trying to take him over or something?"

Roman shook his head "Virgils had that weird energy stuff for a while now and if anything Preston looked like he was scared of it. Well as scared as Preston is capable of looking anyway."

"Roman? You know earlier..." Patton said and Roman cut him off "I meant every word."

Roman ignored the looks he was getting and continued "That night after Logan healed his back Virgil woke up and we both sort of confessed to having feelings for each other. He got a little hysterical and said how typical it was that he'd found love yet couldn't truly experience it. He warned me that the medication was tearing down limits he'd set himself to prevent him becoming a monster. He made me promise that no matter if he begged to be let out of the barrier that I had to keep making Thomas take the pills. I... I failed him."

Roman broke down crying and Patton instantly wrapped his arms around him, tears slipping down his own face.

Thomas looked over at Logan and noticed how he seemed to be focused on something. He wasn't sure what he was doing but he didn't want to ask and break his concentration.

Thomas didn't have to wait for long because Logan suddenly gasped and fell backwards, a look of horror on his face.

"Logan? What happened?" Thomas asked, drawing the attention of the other two.

"I was delving into Virgils mind to see what was going on, I've always had a way with memories you see, and it's complete chaos. The thing that was controlling Virgil is something he accidentally mentally created. He must have seen his energy as a whole other creature or person and somehow it became sentient. He and his energy are at war because his energy wishes to hurt and destroy while he is obviously of the opposite opinion. The only two things they both seem to be able to agree on is that Preston needs to be taken down and.... " Logan suddenly cut off as his hand clamped over his mouth.

The others were too busy taking in the information to notice that Logan hadn't voluntarily done so.

"They... Don't... Need... To... Know that...." a quiet voice in his head said, seemingly out of breath.

Logan managed to hold back a yelp of surprise as he recognised the voice. "don't... Tell... Them.... About... It.... I'll.... Fix everything..."

Logan didn't know whether he was able to trust the literal embodiment of deciet but considering he knew the snake faced trait cared for Virgil he decided to listen.

"I... Need you.... To go... Look into... Something.... Preston isn't who.... He says he is.... He used to be.... The creativity of someone called... Tristan... There are... Probably old memories... Or something... I'll try and get more.... Information.... If I can.... Also... Don't tell anyone... About the other thing... You saw in... Virges mind.... I'll find a way to fix.... Him... "

With the skill of someone who'd been hiding their real emotions for years Logan kept his face blank, not letting the others know he was having a conversation with a very exhausted sounding Deciet.

He recognised the name Tristan for some reason but couldn't quite place it and the fact that Preston used to be the creative trait of someone made everything make much more sense.

Preston was very familiar with how the mindspace worked and had remarked about how logical traits were weak, meaning he'd had some experience with other traits before.

The only real question was what happened to make him the way he was?

Logan planned to find out.

And so the plot thickens. If anyone has any theories on what's going on, I'd love to hear them.