Trigger warning: crying

Milly's P.O.V.
We were back in the waiting room, Anthony beginning to tell his ridiculously long and detailed version of our 'camping trip,' when reality started to hit me. Scenes replayed over and over in my mind's eye: grabbing Virgil's hand and running, locking swords with a henchman, summoning a staircase up the mountain, walking aimlessly for hours, talking to Lori, stepping through the door, walking through Idyllica, leaving the Mind Palace, the deal, the S.R.A., the abnormalities, the attack, the fights, Rossane's warning.

I knew I had to get away. Everyone was focused on Anthony and I was in the back of the group, so I quietly started backing away down a hallway, until I reached a turn. With a final glance back at everyone else, I turned and bolted down the hallway. I passed no one on my way and eventually found myself looking at the door to one of the outdoor sitting areas. I opened the door and stepped out into the fresh air, taking it in in big gulps. Staggering, I sat down on one of the benches and held my head in my hands as a swarm of unwelcome thoughts flooded my head.

"No," I said aloud, arguing against my thoughts. "This isn't my fault. This is no one's fault but the imposter and his master. Whether I stayed away from Camille, or Virgil, or Roman, or Anthony, or anyone, would not have changed what happened."

I thought once more of Rossane's warning. She told me I couldn't change the future, but I tried anyway. Even when she gave in and said that maybe I could change the future, her hypothesis was still completely theoretical.

"Why did I try something that I knew would fail?" I asked myself aloud. As soon as I asked it, I knew the answer: I wasn't going to give up on anyone. If there was even the slightest chance of saving my family, I was going to take it.

I sat on the bench for a while, quickly forgetting about me and my woes and focusing on everyone else. Rossane said she saw Camille as the dark figure again, which meant it was an event still to come, but when? Would she just wake up one morning, as she said, and check her hands to find that they aren't her own? Would it be a gradual change? Only time would tell.

As for Roman, what would happen to him? He was already a little translucent when we found him, so was he too close to death to be saved? Or was his brief moment of consciousness a sign that he might live?

More questions revolved around Lori, due to her strange light and mysterious past. What was it? How did it knock out all of the henchmen and her longer than it did Tori and us Sides? What happened to her father? Why did her old village not accept magic? Why was she so secretive about her past and herself?

A few minutes of thinking turned into ten minutes of thinking, then fifteen minutes, then twenty. Above me, a few clouds were rolling in, covering the sun and tinting everything grey. A few claps of thunder sounded in the distance, and I pondered whether I should go back inside to avoid getting soaked if it started raining. But just then a warm breeze blew past me, convincing me to stay, so I laid back on the bench and looked up at the sky.

"I wonder why they haven't come looking for me yet," I said to the sky. "You'd think they would've been watching close enough that I wouldn't even have been able to get out here in the first place. You'd think they'd want to be sure everyone's together right now. But it's alright—at least I got to sit out here. I got to talk to you too, storm, isn't that nice?"

There was another rumble of thunder, much closer this time. I sighed and mumbled with realization and embarrassment, "I am talking to a storm."

A few more minutes passed and a few raindrops began to fall, the thunder getting closer and closer and the sky lighting up with strikes of lightning every few seconds. It was during one loud thunderclap that I heard something else, like a loud click. I assumed it was just a strange echo from the sound of thunder bouncing off the walls of the little outdoor square I was in, but then I heard my name being called.

Virgil's P.O.V.
"Where's Milly?" Camille asked. I looked up and saw that Milly had indeed disappeared.

"She was here just a few minutes ago," Patton said, looking around worriedly.

"Did you see her while you walked back?" Anthony asked Camille.

"No," she replied. "Why would I ask where she was if I had seen her?"

"Did she say she was going somewhere?" Owen asked.

"Of course not," Camille answered again. "We wouldn't be so worried if we knew where she went."

"I'll go look for her," Thomas offered.

"No," I said, silencing everyone. Because of the silence, I thought, I wonder what it is about a bloodstained man on his wedding day who was about to marry an imposter that silences a room. "No," I repeated. "I'll go." Of course, no one had any objections to that, so I stood and went down the hallway that she previously had her back to.

There were so many doors, so many turns, so many places for her to be. I never did like hospitals, mostly for the reasons you'd need to be in one and what happens while you're there, but also because of how big and complicated they are. There are more twists and turns than the final chapters of a Harry Potter book and you can get lost like you're in a labyrinth.

Nearly twenty minutes passed and I was still looking for her, my anxiety levels rising even higher than they already were. Outside, thunder was sounding, lightning was flashing, and rain was pouring. Because of the storm, I took a quick glance out a glass door.

Out the door, I saw Milly, lying on a bench in a little outdoor sitting area. I slammed the door open and called Milly's name, though she didn't respond at first. I called her name again, louder, and ran over to her. She sat up and looked at me, an emotionless expression on her face.

"Milly," I said. "Come inside, it's pouring!"

"I know," she said simply. "I do have senses, you know."

"Milly, please, I've been looking for you for nearly half an hour, come inside."

"But, Virgil, isn't the storm beautiful? Don't you want to stay out and enjoy it?"

"What? No, Milly, what is wrong with you? Everyone's worried about you, you've—"

"Then we've got something else in common."

She stared at me with her stone-faced expression while I stared back in shock.

"Milly, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Sit down, Virgil," she replied, patting the bench. Hesitantly, I sat down next to her.

"I'm glad to have you back," she said. "I've missed you." It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about.

"Oh, God, Milly," I stammered. "I'm so sorry—"

"You have nothing to apologize for," she interrupted. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't my fault either, or Camille's, or Roman's, or anyone else's. It was the imposter and his master. I know that now." She turned to me and smiled, then reached out to grab my hand.

"I'm sorry, Milly," I said after a short pause, a few tears welling in my eyes.

"I am too," she replied, squeezing my hand. "I'm so sorry."

Then—as the rain poured harder, the thunder clapped louder, and the lightning flashed brighter—she leaned her head against my arm and began to cry. Feeling a comfort that I hadn't even realized I'd missed, I began to cry as well.

"I love you, kid," I confessed, stammering.

"I love you too, Dad," Milly replied, letting go of my hand and wrapping her arms around me.

A.N.
A recurrent, unexplained, and undiagnosed breathing issue? An anxiety attack in the middle of the night caused by said breathing issue? A couple other related things I don't even want to get into? All ingredients for a fantastic week (now gluten and dairy free!).

It's not as bad as it sounds, though. I mean, it is as bad, but there's good along with it. I've gotten a lot of reading and writing done, most importantly. Speaking of which, I'm just about to start writing the final chapter of this book. It's not going to be the world's most exciting last chapter, but hey, it's not nearly the end of the story.

That's all for now, I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Adiós, guys, gals, and non-binary pals.