Note: I noticed a few mistakes in my last chapter and I am most certainly beating myself up about them (even though they aren't really that important), so sorry if this takes a little while to get posted!

Warnings: Strong language, mention of being paralysed, self-deprecation, panic (?)
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“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.”- Chinese Proverb

Logan has gathered everyone except Roman in Thomas's living room and Virgil worries about why the creative facet is absent. Has something happened to him? Is this about the incident between them that happened so long ago? Did he do something wrong?

After a minute of silence, the logical trait manages to collect his thoughts and begins to explain why they are all here. "I apologise for not informing you all immediately about this, but I suppose I simply needed to... process everything myself." There was something else he wasn't saying. Or possibly admitting. "Roman and I had a disagreement around three days ago, we both said things we didn't mean and Roman stormed off. However, when I found him in his room, he could barely move. He was paralysed by... something."

Instantly, Virgil feels his blood run cold. "Paralysed by what?"

"I'm... not sure--"

"Well, find out!"

Patton looks over at the youngest Side disapprovingly, shaking his head and folding his arms across his chest. The typical disappointed dad look. Oh boy. "Now, we all know that Logan is trying his best to figure this out. Why do you think he has us all here? Don't be so harsh on him."

Knowing he's right, Virgil stutters out an apology and rubs his hands over his face, being careful of the eyeshadow beneath his lids. Logan narrows his eyes suspiciously at him. "Is there something specific you are worrying about, Virgil?"

Smartass. Virgil nods gently and takes a deep breath, twisting the hem of his shirt in his fingers nervously and swallowing to stop his voice from shaking. "It's just... If Deceit can forcefully stop you guys from talking, what if he can stop you guys from, like, moving? What if he's coming after Roman next? What--"

"Virgil," he can hear Thomas cutting off his panicked rambling softly, "it's going to be okay. We're all going to figure out what happened and if Deceit is the one who caused it, then we can deal with it and find a solution."

But how?! The only reason they were able to get rid of Deceit last time was because Patton returned and took back his place. How are they supposed to stop him when they don't even know what he's doing or how he's doing it?!

Before he can completely spiral, Patton's voice pulls him back to reality. "Virgil, I know it's scary. But everything is going to be okay."

How do they know that?!

He stays quiet, offering a weak smile and listening in to whatever else Logan has to say. They talk about possible causes and organise a schedule for each of them to keep an eye on Roman for the next week or so. Virgil takes it upon himself to have the most 'shifts'; it's his job to protect them, so it's only fair. Of course, Patton and Logan both insist on taking a few more than Virgil is letting them, but the anxious Side does not give in and eventually, they let it go.

Suddenly, Virgil wonders how the hell he's going to keep an eye on Roman without it looking suspicious. Where even is Roman? He sinks down first to the Common Room, seeing the fanciful man brush his fingers through his fringe, obviously trying to fix it. There's an open red backpack sitting on the sofa in front of him, bursting with bottles of water, snacks, and Virgil can see the material of something, but can't for the life of him guess what it is.

Before he can think of a plan to watch out for Roman without seeming sketchy, Virgil sees the prince turn to face him, his eyes widening for a second in surprise at seeing his opposite standing behind him. "Greetings, Virgil! Can I help you?"

"Uh," he needs to think of something, "was just wondering where you were going."

Roman smiles and gestures to the backpack still resting open on the couch. "I'm going on an adventure! A kingdom in my realm is having a bit of trouble at the moment, though they haven't explained what the issue is yet." He double checks the bag and after being pleased with its contents, zips it up securely. "Why do you ask?"

With a shrug, Virgil grips the sleeve of his left arm with his right hand and sighs. "That sounds pretty dangerous, Princey. I know you do this all the time, but... I just..." He pauses. "Are you sure you'll be alright going alone?"

Slinging the bag over his right shoulder, Roman struggles to get the left strap over his left shoulder. "Are you trying to ask if you can come with me? If not, then I can assure you that I'll be just fine, but just know that you're always welcome to join me."

Virgil ponders his options for a few seconds. He could stay here, miss his chance at keeping an eye on Roman, let the stupid prince go off hunting some dangerous imaginary beast by himself, and stay safe and warm. Or he could accompany Roman, successfully keeping an eye on him, putting himself in danger, but also giving himself the chance to protect him if needs be.

"Sure, I'll come with. Can't promise I'll be much help, though."

Nodding quickly, Roman beams over at the other Side and leads him to the door to his realm. It's a rather beautiful door. Made out of mahogany, carved with intricate patterns, a few scratches and chips that suggest the door has been used, and a shining silver handle. Circular. As straight as the man who created it.

When they enter, they immediately hear a crowd cheering at them from far away. Clearly, they know of Roman's arrival and are pretty damn pleased about it. They make their way down a ridiculously large hill, Virgil taking note of the sweet little daisies poking out through the green blades of grass, almost providing him with something to distract him from the anxious thudding in his chest. Almost.

Even Virgil can't deny that Roman's realm is absolutely gorgeous. So detailed.

The sky looks real, with its usual pale blue being covered in a thick layer of grey, almost do grey that it's black. Black clouds can't be a good sign, so they hurry towards the town a little faster, seeing one woman rush up to Roman, gripping the front of his tunic and sobbing into his chest. "A dragon-witch took my daughter! Please help her!"

Roman pats her back gently, promising her that he will do everything in his power to bring her daughter back to safety. She thanks him in a desperate sob and stands up straight, suddenly realising that he isn't alone. "Oh, hello!"

"Uh, hi. Sorry about your daughter, we'll get her back though." What is he even saying? It's not like this woman is even real. The woman in danger isn't even real!

However, the grateful smile she offers him eases his nerves a little bit and makes him forget about the fact that these people aren't even real. Roman makes some big stupid speech about how the dragon-witch will go down in flames, then he lifts his sword in the air, nearly taking out Virgil's eye, and shouts about how 'hope will conquer the beast'. Virgil isn't even sure whether that makes sense or not.

Soon enough, Roman leads Virgil away from the village and towards a dirt path leading to a heavily wooded area. The anxious facet sighs. "We aren't going to get lost, are we?"

Roman chuckles lightly and shakes his head. "Of course not!"

Cue to two hours later and the two of them indeed find themselves lost in a sea of woodland. Virgil groans and complains that his feet are aching, so they decide to take a break. For a few seconds, the anxious Side wonders why Roman can't just make a pathway to the dragon. It's his realm, after all, shouldn't he be able to control it?

It takes Virgil a few minutes to gather up the courage to ask about this, only to receive a frustrated response. "Usually, I can, but something is... wrong."

Should Virgil mention the story Logan told them? Roman does have every right to know that they know. But would that just cause more drama and tension between them, and it hasn't been that long since they resolved their big fight about Virgil flinching away from the creative Side. Not to mention that Logan and Roman don't always get along either, so the news of Logan blabbing about what had happened to him would probably piss Roman off quite a bit. Instead of bringing any of this up, Virgil just winces and let's out a short nervous laugh. "Wrong?"

"Yes..." Roman isn't laughing. He's not smiling either. His expression is more serious and solemn than Virgil has ever seen it, which sends a chill up his spine. "Virgil, stay close behind me, okay?"

Virgil nods in response, shuffling a few inches closer, making sure to stay behind the prince as he hovered his hand over the hilt of his sword. The two of them continue down the dirt path, accidentally kicking small stones and dusty specks of mud as they do so. Both want to make some sort of conversation, just to fill the tense silence that hangs between them, but noise could trigger whatever was causing the stagnating air to come forward, and neither of them want that.

The soft shallow breaths Roman is letting out give Virgil an idea of how quiet he has to try and be. Short, quiet breaths. Don't let whatever is out to get them hear him.

He takes one deep breath and then begins to replicate Roman's breathing. The two of them look around themselves cautiously, observing the low hanging branches, peeking through the tiny gaps between leaves on bushes and hedges, searching for anything that could signify that--

A growl.

No. A... Well, it is a growl, but it's almost as if its being amalgamated with a hiss? Either way, it sends goosebumps up Virgil's arms, and by the way he tenses up at the sound, Roman is also feeling the same amount of fear as him. That does surprise Virgil slightly. He's a prince, shouldn't he be used to this sort of stuff by now?

The same sound echoes through the trees once again and they spin to take a look in the direction it's coming from, Roman continuing to shove Virgil behind him with his arm, brandishing his sword with the other. "Show yourself, monster!"

Why the fuck did he do that?!

Pissing it off isn't going to help anyone! Before Virgil can voice these opinions however, he is suddenly grabbed violently from behind. A gigantic claw of sickly green grips his torso and holds him up high in the air, causing him to let out an unearthly shriek of terror. Roman immediately notices the movement behind him and gasps in shock as a dragon, much larger than any creature he'd fought before, looms over him with a screeching Virgil writhing around in its claw.

The colour of the beast is... something that makes his insides twist and stretch, causing him to feel both frightened and almost nauseated as his eyes drink it in. He almost imagines it to be a dirty yellow, but... there's another colour mixed in to make it the disgusting green it now displays. For a moment, Roman is completely focused on not throwing up at the sight of it, but soon shakes the nausea off to glare at the dragon heatedly. "Let my friend go, you heathen!"

"Roman, get me the fuck down from here!"

Indignant sputtering falls from the fanciful Side's mouth. "Oh my- What do you think I'm trying to do?!"

A pained groan is his response and Roman suddenly spots the red beginning to stain the side of Virgil's purple shirt. Oh shit. The dragon's grip gets tighter and tighter until, even from down on the ground, Roman can see that Virgil can barely breathe. He needs to destroy the dragon now!

With that thought, he charges forward, swinging his sword at the dragon's feet and successfully slicing them enough for it to lose balance. When it finally falls to its knees, Roman swings his sword once again, cutting off the beast's arm and successfully catching Virgil as he falls to the ground. The weight of catching another fully grown man mid-fall should break his arms, but he's regained control of his realm and therefore, he's now able to give himself an almost ridiculous amount of super strength.

He gently, but swiftly lays Virgil down on the ground and pants heavily, anxiously watching the blood seep through his companions clothing. Unfortunately, he can only control himself in his realm, not others. "Stay here and stay still, I'll be back in a moment, I promise."

And before Virgil can even try to respond, Roman has took off once again, charging at the dragon and stabbing wherever he can; he's no longer following any sort of tactics. He's just... slashing at the creature until it's no longer moving. Of course, he tries to make its death quick, but it doesn't exactly cooperate with him, so it takes a minute before the dragon finally collapses.

Roman stands still for a few seconds, still panting heavily and resting most of his weight against his sword, stabbing it into the dirt below them to keep himself up. He then suddenly remembers that Virgil is bleeding out on the ground behind him and rushes to his side. "Okay, I'm going to get you back to the village so the nurses and doctors can patch you up. I have more control now, so I can get you back quicker."

Although he wants to yell for the stupid prince to shut up and just take him to a doctor, he can hear the genuine panic in his voice, so he simply nods and grunts slightly in pain as he feels an arm curl around his back and the back of his knees. Roman apologises speedily for hurting him and runs forward, holding Virgil close to his chest to prevent his body from jumping with the movement of his legs.

The rushing of air; the snapping of twigs; the crumpling of leaves; the stomping of feet. That's all the anxious persona can hear until they reach the village. After that, it's all muffled voices, desperate pleas, and... and...
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A few hours later, he awakens to the sound of footsteps walking on a wooden floor. He's in a rather uncomfortable bed. The mattress is hard and his pillow smells funny, but he'd rather be here than on the ground in the middle of a random forest in Roman's realm.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Tinkersmell."

Roman. Honestly, Virgil has never been more relieved to hear that moronic prince's voice in his entire life.

He glances up and sees a warm smile stretched across Roman's face, cheeks pink from the heat of the... house they're in? Is it even a house? What is it? Virgil doesn't really know what he has the strength to say, so he simply does his usual two finger salute and smiles. "Sup."

With a quiet chuckle, Roman asks if he'd like to go home and Virgil nods instantly because yes fucking please. They thank those that helped the anxious facet to recover before heading in the direction of the door leading back to Roman's room. It's a minute or so later when Virgil remembers something. "What about that woman's daughter?"

Roman smiles awkwardly. "You know how I was able to gain more control of my realm after defeating the dragon?" After seeing Virgil nod, he continues. "Well, I kind of changed the story... Now, there's no daughter and we simply needed to destroy the beast to save the villagers from being harmed."

Smirking in amusement, Virgil comments on how 'the whole thing seems less real' because of Roman's ability to change the story at will anytime he likes. The creative Side rolls his eyes and laughs in response, opening the door in front of them and letting Virgil step through first. A charmer, as always.

"I'm sorry that I put you in so much danger." Roman's voice is quiet as he says this, causing Virgil's stomach to jump, not expecting such sincerity, or even an apology. But the prince soon backtracks, "Even though you're the one who chose to come with me in the first place."

Virgil sighs and shakes his head finding it difficult to decide whether he should be annoyed at the creative persona or endeared. "Whatever, Princey. Let's just go see if dinner's ready, I'm starving."

As they leave the rather regal room and make their way to the kitchen, Virgil musters up all the courage he can and nudges Roman's arm lightly. The fanciful Side is obviously extremely surprised by the physical contact and spins to look at the younger Side, eyes full of slight hope and genuine delight. It almost makes Virgil want to both laugh fondly and run away. "Thanks for saving me. It would've kinda sucked it you'd left me there with the dragon."

"You're more than welcome, Virgil."

Roman's smile is blinding. And when they're both sitting at the kitchen table, Virgil can't help but feel a little proud of himself. It was a brief nudge of the arm, but it was progress. And the look on Roman's face made it even better.