Virgils POV

In the time I was alone in the Hades cabin, two weird things happened.

Firstly, I had a dream. That wasn't the weird part, even though it was the first time in years I hadn't had a nightmare instead.

The weird part was what happened in the dream. I was trapped in an underground cave and the only light came from a slit in the ceiling, way too high to reach.

I banged on the walls with my fists, yelling for help, to no avail. I tried throwing rocks, kicking, even throwing my body against it, but nothing. That's when a pitch black raven with glittering coal eyes appeared out of no where.
It flew at the wall and passed right through it. The stone began to crumble where it had touched and the rocks began to fall on me.

I woke up right after that, and that's when I noticed the second weird thing.

On the iron alter across the room lay a sword in a gleaming silver sheath.

I stood up off the floor and rubbed my eyes with the sleeve of my hoodie. Then I approached the sheath warily and picked it up. Somehow, I knew it was a gift from my father, almost like a peace offering.

'I don't want anything that comes from that bastard' I thought bitterly, until I slid the sword out of the sheath. I gasped quietly.

The blade was pitch black and cold to the touch. It had a sort of purple glow and seemed to chill the air around it. A part of me was telling me to put the weapon down and never pick it up again, but the rest of me felt too drawn to it to let go.

This was my sword. I just knew it.

So I sheathed the blade again and looked back at the alter.

"Um, thanks, I guess." I said to the empty room, but directing it to someone I couldn't see. "I appreciate it, if you're listening. Just... don't think this means I'll be calling you Dad any time soon."

No one replied, but at that point I didn't really expect him to.

So that led us to now, with my new black sword pointed at an infuriatingly attractive son of Aphrodite's throat.

"What part of 'go away' do you not understand?" I growled.

"Woah," Roman said, startled but not seeming afraid. He held his hands up in surrender. "Woah."

I had started to to cry as I listened to Roman, Patton, and Logan's words through the door as I leaned against it, and I knew there were still tears trailing down my face. I ignored them and attempted to look unaffected.

"Why are you in here?" I demanded, trying to glare at him.

"Virgil," Roman began, staying perfectly still. "You and I both know that you shouldn't be alone right now."

Dammit. Why did he have to be right?

"So what?" I said. My sword hand had begun to shake a little bit. "Why would that matter to you?"

He met my eyes.

"Because I care about you, Virgil."

My grip on the handle went slack and my sword clattered to the ground. I stared into his crimson eyes in startled shock.

I had no idea how six little words had such and impact on me, but my eyes were starting to tear up. That is, until harsher words rose to the front of my mind.

Why would anyone care about him?

I hastily turned away from Roman and quickly wipes my face with my hoodie sleeve.

"Well I guess you wasted your time then." I said harshly. "Why don't you just go back out? Everyone else is much more stable than I am."

Roman sighed quietly

"Look, I know that things were not.... ideal, when you got claimed," He responded from behind me. "But don't you think this is being a bit over dramatic?"

Over dramatic?

He's saying I'm over dramatic? Who the hell does he think he is!

I spun around and glared at him. He seemed to realize his mistake.

"I meant, just a tad blown out of proportion."
Roman tried to amend.

I raised my eyebrows.

"Uh, I mean," He attempted to try to make it better but pretty much failing. "I don't see why it's such a big deal-"

"Right." I said, trying not to look as hurt as I felt. "Well thanks for the little visit. But if I wanted to stand around and be insulted, I would've showed up at camp like I usually do."

"No! That's not- ugh." Roman groaned, grimacing. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that not everybody thinks of you different!"

I scoffed and looked down.

"I'm serious!" He insisted. "You still have Patton and Logan!"

I only realized how close he was standing when he put a finger under my chin and pushed my head up gently so I could look at him.

"And you still have me, okay?"

I looked to the side at the dark wall.

And I nodded.

Romans POV

I stayed in cabin 13 with Virgil overnight  

He didn't open up much, but I didn't mind much. Maybe he would once we spend more time together.

Woah. Why does the idea of spending time with Virgil make me so happy?

I just shook off the thought.

The Hades cabin was windowless, but I opened the door a crack to see the first rays of sunlight appear.

Then I turned to Virgil who was wiping off his smudged eyeshadow and re-doing it with a familiar red palette....

"Is that my makeup?"

Without looking away from the mirror he said

"The thought did occur to me. But I didn't break into your cabin or anything, if that's what you're thinking. You left it in the infirmary."

"So you just took it?"

He shrugged.

Usually if anyone touched my makeup without my permission I would explode. But for some reason, I didn't really mind all that much.

"Well anyway," I attempted a lighthearted tone. "Are you almost ready for breakfast today?"

Virgil froze.

"I don't know about this, Roman..."

"Come on Virge!" I exclaimed. "You'll have to leave this cabin eventually. And there's no time like the present!"

He closed my- well, his now -eyeshadow palette.

"How about tomorrow?"

"Virgil." I said firmly. He looked at me and I softened my voice.

"You can do this."

He took a deep breath and stared at his adorable- I mean... what? -face in the mirror.

"I can do this."

I placed a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Exactly." I said soothingly. "Now, I have to go back to Cabin 10 to get dressed and everything but I'll see you at breakfast, okay?"

He looked up at me nervously through his purple bangs.

"Okay."

I smoothed down a piece of his hair that was sticking up (completely missing the blush that spread across his face as I did so) and opened the door.

"See ya soon, JD-lightful!"

He cracked a tiny smile before I stepped out and closed the door behind me.

There was still a bit of morning mist floating around yet to be burned away by the sun, and it clung to me as I began my trek to the Aphrodite cabin.

I eased the door open quietly, stepped into the heavily perfumed cabin and shut it silently.

I exhaled in relief, but it was short lived.

"Where the hell were you?" Remus' voice broke the silence.

I tended but turned to look at him. My twin was standing there in green pyjamas and with crossed arms. He did not look happy.

"Exactly where I said I would be." I answered as I pushed past him to my bunk. "Talking to Virgil."

"Really? For 10 hours?"

I just shrugged (I think Virgil is already rubbing off on me...)

"Roman, this isn't like you!" Remus exclaimed. "Why do you insist on hanging out with the freak-"

"He's not a freak!" I snapped.

Remus' eyes widened in surprise but then he gave a sly smile.

"Oh I see what this is now."

"What are you on about?" I said, watching him warily and trying to see what changed his behaviour so suddenly.

"You're trying to finally get your Rite of Passage!" He answered a bit too excitedly.

I just stared at him, a little bit horrified.

The Rite of Passage for an Aphrodite kid is to get someone to fall in love with you, and then break their heart.

I've always thought the whole thing was terrible, but even just the idea of breaking Virgils heart made me feel sick to my stomach.

He might not have told me much about his past, but I could tell Virgil had gone through more than enough pain. There's no way in Tartarus I'd ever want to add more.

"What? No! No, that's not what this is!" I said instantly.

"Then what is it Roman?"

I was silent and turned around.

"Roman!"

"Drop it Remus."

I didn't need to look at his face to see the expression of surprise and slight hurt.

"Whatever." He said as he shoved past me. I still didn't look at him. "Just don't be surprised when he turns out to be just like his dad."

As my brother disappeared into his blankets I sighed quietly and asked myself a question.

What is going on with me?

Virgils POV

As soon as Roman left, I began to pace.

And pace.

And pace.

Should I tell him about Sebastian? What if he decides I'm not worth the trouble? What if he thinks of me differently? What if he turns his back on me? What if he thinks I'm broken? What if?

I can't do this. I can't face all those people. I can't do anything!

But then I heard Romans' voice in my head.

Virgil, you can do this

So I took a shaky breath, zipped up my hoodie, and pushed open the heavy black door.

I trudged over to the pavilion, dreading what's to come.

The moment I stepped into the dining pavilion the room went silent and I felt way to many eyes on me.

I instantly tried to nope the hell out of there but Roman, Logan and Patton grabbed my shoulders and turned me back around.

"Mind your own business!" Roman called to my unwanted spectators. They all turned away but I could hear whispers begin to pick up.

Who would've thought a camp for magical children would be so much like a normal high school?

"Guys I don't think-" I was cut off my Patton who had his hand on my back comfortably.

"We'll walk with you."

I nodded, feeling small.

All I have to do is walk to the front, grab a piece of toast or something, then I can eat it outside with my friends away from prying eyes. No biggie.

It shouldn't be this hard! But every glare thrown my way felt like a punch to the face and every time someone moved away from me it felt like a kick to the stomach.

"Virgil," Logan advised from my side. "Look directly ahead of you, at your destination. It will help to ease your anxiety."

I followed his instructions and it helped a little bit. But my breathing was still too fast.

I couldn't do this.

I swerved away from the aisle and my friends and rushed out of the pavilion.

I sat propped against the wall and buried my face in my knees. I heard Logan, Roman and Patton sit around me but I didn't look up. I didn't want to see their expressions of disappointment and anger.

"I'm sorry." I muttered quietly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Patton responded softly.

I looked up at that. None of my friends faces had a hint of anger in them.

"But I-" I stuttered a bit. "I didn't do what you guys wanted! I completely messed up!"

Why weren't they angry? If I pulled something like that back at Sebastian's...

"It might take some time," Roman assured, looking a bit concerned. "But you'll get there eventually."

Patton lifted his arms and I flinched. But instead of hitting me, the son of Apollo pulled me into a hug.

I just sat there, incredibly surprised.

What is going on????

I had no idea, but I slowly leaned into Patton's arms.

"It'll get better." He said.

I doubted that.

******
The rest of the day was pretty average, average meaning minimal panicking.

Countless glares were thrown my way and when I walked through groups or crowds, everyone parted like the Red Sea.

To be honest, it didn't really feel much different from my life outside of camp. I even had a decent amount of cuts and bruises from sword fighting practice so it's basically home sweet home.

In case you couldn't tell, that was quite heavy on sarcasm.

Patton, Roman, and Logan had offered to hang with me when they got out of activities but I assured them it would be okay. I didn't want to be a burden on them anyway.

I had just finished my attempt at pegasus riding when a dryad approached me.

"Son of Hades" I winced a bit as she said that. "Your presence is wanted at the Big House."

"What? Why?" I asked, but she had already melted back into the woods.

I just sighed and ruffled my hair. In a few minutes I was standing on the deck of the Big House.

I didn't know if I was supposed to just go in, so I knocked and stood there for a minute. The door opened to reveal Chiron in his wheelchair form.

"Ah, Mr August!" He greeted, opening the door wider. "Please come in."

"Thanks, but you can just call me Virgil." I said as I stepped into the cozy living room.

Chiron nodded.

"Alright Virgil! Take a seat."

I sat down on one of the leather couches while he parked his wheelchair across from me.

I shifted uncomfortably as Chiron watched me silently.

"So I'm pretty sure I can guess what this is about," I began, breaking the quiet. "I can go pack my stuff now if you want."

He looked a bit confused now.

"What are you talking about child?"

"You're kicking me out, right?" He tried to interrupt but I kept going. "It's okay really! I bet my foster parents are super worried anyway."

I tried not to sound bitter while saying that last sentence but I don't think I really succeeded. Truthfully, I'd sooner live on the streets then I'd even think about going back to that hellhole.

Chiron had pity in his eyes.

"No Virgil, I'm not kicking you out."

"Oh." I responded after a beat of silence. "Then what's this about?"

He laced his fingers together.

"I wanted to ask about what happened this morning at breakfast."

"Wait, so this isn't about Hades or whatever?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"No, Virgil." Chiron said with a small smile. "I'm simply concerned. Do you know what might have caused such a reaction?"

"Um, I don't really know." I lied. "I'm just an anxious person."

"Could this be a product of your upbringing before you and Joan reached here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I leaned back and looked away from my mentor.

"Virgil." I could feel his stare. "I know about your old foster parents."

I froze, my blood ran cold.

"H-how do you know about that?" I said shakily.

I flinched a little when Chiron placed a hand on my shoulder. I hesitantly looked at him.

"It's okay Virgil. You're safe here, safe from them."

He wiped my face of tears I didn't even notice were falling.

What is it with the people here? Why can't they just leave my problems alone and let me be depressing on my own?

But I guess a part of me, a very very tiny part of me, appreciates their efforts.

That night as I unstrapped my swords scabbard in the dark box known as the hades cabin, I felt the tiniest bit lighter; as if the smallest amount of the weight I've been carrying for years had been lifted.

I was about to fall back on my pillow when I heard frantic knocking on the door.

I groaned but pushed myself up. As I rubbed my eyes, I opened the door.

Logan was there looking uncharacteristically panicked. A flash of relief flickered across his face before he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the cabin.

"Virgil, thank the gods that you're okay!"

"Why wouldn't I be? What's going on, Logan?"

He looked at me and I could see fear in his dark blue eyes.

"It's Patton." He said. "He's been taken."

AN- All comments are read and appreciated <3

Oof what a cliffhanger! Sorry I had to do that to you but that's showbiz baby 🤷‍♀️

Sorry it took so long, but I'll be home tomorrow so I can write on my laptop instead which will definitely speed up the writing process a bit (yayyyy)

Yikes this ended up being nearly 1000 words longer than I wanted so I'm gonna peace out.

Hope you enjoyed :)