Thank you Adriana Caselotti, for almost making me lose my chapter.

TW: Drowning, threats (in re-caps), quick death mention, unconsciousness

He was about to say something, but then, suddenly, he heard something. A scream.

The two shot up, and Roman's eyes went wide as he saw Patton's head go under.

Roman rushed over to the lake, almost knocking over Virgil (who stood, frozen, a few inches from the water's edge).

"Stop!" he heard from Logan, but he paid him no mind—until he found himself frozen to the ground. He felt something on his head. He tried to touch his face, but there almost seemed to be a force field around it.

"An air bubble," Logan said, and Roman gave him a look that he hoped the scarfed man took as "Thank you for this air bubble, as I kind of forgot that I cannot breath air and without it would also be drowning."

But he quickly found whatever spell placed on him lifted, and he ran back into the water. When it started to get deeper, he dived down.

He saw something a few feet below him—Patton. Fear on his face, he was rapidly descending. He was swimming up furiously, using all his appendages, but he wasn't making a bit of headway, which Roman thought odd.

He swam down to the Dragon-Witch, and tried to pull him up, but it was no use. And then he noticed a dark clump on Patton's leg. Roman thought this might not be good, so he tried to take it off. But as soon as he touched it, he felt something. It was slimy and shimmery at the same time. It was both heavy and light. And it was definitely dark. So, so dark.

Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by shadows, so thick that he couldn't even see Patton anymore. The first one came up to him.

"You left him," it said in a raspy voice. "You left him and he's waiting for you, thinking what you said was the truth."

"I did mean it—" he tried to say, but he was cut off by another figure.

"You lied to him. You are just as bad as your authorities, and you'll never rise above the filth of your species."

"I just needed to find—"

"Your family?" asked a third one. He just laughed.

The fourth one came up to his face. "He's still in the Cage. You could have tried to get him out, but you didn't. What does that say about you?"

"They're dead. Your quest is for naught, and you have endangered everyone by embarking on it," spoke this fifth.

The sixth just shrugged and said in a bit more of a modern tone, "It's all true. They just said it before me."

There was something about the shadows that just made him want to stay there. Just to stay there, stuck in the lake forever, just drifting. It would be so easy. He wouldn't have to hurt anyone else.

But then a small voice in the back of his head reminded him of something. Patton. Yes, he knew he should stay with the shadows, but he knew he had to save Patton first.

He realized that he was now completely surrounded by the shadows. He decided to try and punch the shadows, which didn't work (They were shadows after all).

But then he was blessed with a stroke of luck. One of the shadows hissed and flinched back. (He wasn't sure of how a shadow could do these things, but honestly, at this point, he wasn't going to question it.) He quickly dove out of the make-shift shadow cave, and looked for Patton, who was floating just a few feet away. He grabbed him and started to head up to the shore.

He saw the shadows following them, and in a bit of desperation, he tried to sing a little melody to calm himself.

"You may be right, but I'll prove you wrong

We'll both find out in time if they're lies, lies, lies, lies, lieeeeeeeees

They could be lies, lies, lies, lies, lieeeeeees

I won't let them be lies, lies, lies, lies, lieeeeeeeees

I'm doing fine"

As he sang, he found his confidence rising, and the water getting much brighter. And then, suddenly, he was above water.

He saw Logan on the edge of the lake talking to Virgil, and when they noticed Roman and Patton, they rushed over.

Logan quickly grabbed Patton's unconscious form, and Virgil did some magic, almost seeming to pull water out of him. The cyan Dragon-Witch's eyes flew open, and he started coughing a little bit, then took a deep breath.

"What... what were those?" Patton asked. Virgil looked at him confused as Logan set him down.

"What were what?"

"Some sort of shadow. They... they made you think things—" Roman said from the lake, and Virgil looked over at him with an expression that reminded him of a sort of painful nostalgia.

"Oh. Then... then those were the Albeit. Creatures of despair and guilt, they amplify all regrets you have and have ever had."

Roman thought for a moment, wondering if this was the right time to ask the question.

"Is what they say true?"

Suddenly, for the first time, when Virgil looked right at him, it wasn't with hate. For a second, it was empathy.

"I don't know." The man said, and he almost wondered if he was speaking from experience. "I really don't know."

⇼

The group decided to leave quickly after that, as no one wanted to be around a lake where Patton had almost died.

When they reached Patton's cottage, the two tried to stay and watch over Patton, but he waved them away, insisting he was fine.

He turned to leave, and Roman went to follow him, but Virgil called out to him. "Wait," he said. Roman turned around.

"We... we wanted to thank you." Roman nodded his head, and the three went to go their separate ways, until Roman remembered something.

"Patton signaled for Roman to stay on the porch, then walked over to the two. Virgil glared at him. 'Patton Fostiae Adefectus. What are you doing with that human?'"

"Patton glared back. 'Well, Virgil Storme Aeneid, I thought that it might be okay to bring a friend on our trip. It is a good way to get to know each other, after all.'"

"'My name is Remington Macchiato Aeneid. And unless you turn into a dragon right now, I'm going to run you through with this spear.'"

He gasped and ran up to Logan. "Is—is your last name Conia-Tionas?" Logan looked at him strangely.

"Yes," he asked tentatively, "Why do you ask?"

Roman tried to play it off subtly. "Oh, nothing. Patton just mentioned it."

"Alright. Goodbye then."

"Bye."

As he walked back in, he finally realized something. These Dragon-Witches weren't just his key to Draconsion—they were the key to his family.

Hey! Guess who's back with Part two? Me!

Fun fact, it's Monday (November 23, 2020 for those of you from the future) while I'm writing this! As I published "A trip to the lake" only yesterday, I'm kind of proud that I got to write this 1000-word chapter in one day! (although the fact that I was able to work on about half of it in school was a big help).

Anyways, if you liked this, please vote and comment your feedback! And let me know if I've made any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Have a great day/night!

-Pencil