Trigger warnings for this chapter include light mention of sexual assault and abuse. I think that is it, tell me if I am wrong. As always take care of yourselves and thank you for reading.
"So you're telling me Virgil is in physical danger, is currently doing something weird to make me unable to reach him, and none of you have any clue on how to get him back?" Thomas said, clearly exasperated.
The light sides had opted to withhold the more graphic and sensitive information from Thomas, but had otherwise filled him in on what had been going on inside of his head recently. They felt badly enough for telling Thomas aspects of his personality were physically abusive, they couldn't imagine what it's do to their poor host if they told him about the sexual assaults Virgil had been forced to endure.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Roman replied bitterly from where he sat backwards in his chair.
"Well, is there anything I can do to help?" Thomas asked, a spark of determination entering his eyes.
The other's all sagged a little. They had no idea of how to proceed and help Virgil.
"They have locked us out of their part of the mind, so there is little anyone can do right now until we can figure out a way to actually reach him," Logan replied, leaning back against the counter.
"Are we sure they locked us out? Maybe they forgot," Roman hummed hopefully.
Logan sighed and straightened out. He sank through the floor and popped back up a few centimeters from where he had been previously standing.
"Positive," Logan replied.
"You said the same thing about them being able to get in here," Patton muttered, looking away from all of them.
Logan internally winced at the comment. He had been so confident and sure when he told everyone Virgil was safe, how wrong he was. He still didn't understand how he had been wrong, he had checked several times to ensure everything was closed.
"That does raise a multitude of questions involving how they got around the defenses I put up. If we solve that mystery perhaps we can use it to solve our conundrum as well," Logan hummed, rubbing his chin as he thought.
"You know, unless it was a door that they closed so we couldn't use it against them like they used it against us," Roman huffily pointed out, resting his chin down on his hands.
"Now's not the time to be negative, Roman, we can at least try to be hopeful," Thomas scolded. "Right, Patt?"
The moral side looked up, seemingly startled out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Uh, yeah, gotta stay positive," Patton replied, stumbling over his words, his voice was distant.
Thomas sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He could feel the stress and emotions of all three of them running through his head but somehow he felt like the most emotionally stable person in the room.
"So there is no way for any of us to go into this other place where they are keeping Virgil?" Thomas clarified.
"Well that's not entirely correct, it is impossible for any of us to lock you out of your mind. You can reach anywhere but-" Logan started before being cut off.
"So we can send Thomas in to find Virgil?" Roman exclaimed, jumping up from his chair.
"-but it would be ill advised. If you would have let me finish, I don't believe it would be safe for Thomas to venture much deeper into his subconscious, especially not where hostile individuals reside," Logan finished.
"We have a way to get someone in to find Virgil, I say we take it," Roman argued.
"You're suggesting sending Thomas, the most vulnerable person here, deep into one of the most repressed sections for his mind, where there is clear and evident danger. Roman, please stop and think for a second, I know you have a brain up there. We have no idea what it would do to Thomas just being there, much less knowing the fact there are aggressive sides who, well, you've seen a decent bit of what they have done before. Not to mention the fact that we are trying to avoid them influencing Thomas and you would be sending him to encounter sides he has never even met before. That is a horrible plan, even if he manages to find, muchless free, Virgil on his own there is no guarantee he will even be able to bring Virgil back. I'd be willing to bet they are preventing Virgil from being able to sink out, if he could he'd likely already be back here," Logan countered.
"And you're suggesting we leave Virgil alone and afraid. What if he thinks we aren't coming for him? Can you imagine for five seconds how hard he must be taking all of this?" Roman replied, his voice wavering with strong emotion.
"And how hard do you think he'll take it if something happens to Thomas who is only there because of him?" Logan snapped.
"Please stop," Patton whined covering his ears while the other two continued to argue over top of him.
Thomas looked between the three of them helplessly. Thomas tried to rest a hand on Patton but he winced away from him and began trembling with the sobs he was trying to supress. Logan was trying to rationalize with Roman who was giving passionate speeches about needing to get to Virgil and make things up to him.
"He trusted us Logan, we promised to keep him safe. I promised to keep him safe. He believed us and look at what happened to him. I can't just agree to us sitting around waiting for a solution to hit us on the head," Roman cried.
"You think I don't know that Roman? Do you think I don't feel the same way? I'm the one who locked the house and convinced everyone of that fact. I simply don't want to lose anyone else," Logan replied, his own eyes burning with the emotions he was struggling to repress for the sake of staying logical.
"Both of you knock it off! You're making Patton even more upset and wasting time. Let's just keep Roman's idea on the back burner for now. If nothing else I can at least try to sneak in later and give him the message that you guys are searching for an answer if that will make you feel better," Thomas said, physically stepping between the two of them. "For now let's focus on trying to find a surefire way to get in and out with as little problems as possible. It's for our own good as well as Virgil's. I can't imagine a failed rescue attempt will go over well with the dark sides."
"I suppose you are correct Thomas, I apologize for my outburst," Roman sighed, falling back into his chair.
"Everyone is a bit stressed and emotional right now, but that's okay. You guys had all been getting really close so him being in danger is really hard on all of you. We just need to make those emotions a bit more productive" Thomas said, trying to cheer everyone up so his head didn't feel like it was splitting in half.
Roman pulled his lips into a thin, tight line. Thomas didn't even know the half of how close they had gotten. No one had really ever brought up the fact they were all dating to Thomas, probably because they had no idea how he would react to that little fact.
"Alright let's sit down and think about this. None of you know how to get in, is there perhaps someone who does? Another side that doesn't want to see Virgil hurt?" Thomas asked.
Logan let out a hum, his brows furrowing.
"Actually there is probably someone. We don't talk to him much but he does like the fact Virgil sometimes makes him not have to do his job. He could probably be convinced to lend us a hand," Logan mused.
"Huh? Wait, no, you're not talking about that sassy coffee addict are you?" Roman complained.
"He has lived in the subconscious longer than anyone else, he was the first ever side. If there is a gateway from here to the dark side, he will know about it," Logan replied.
"It has really been a while since we last saw him," Patton hummed thoughtfully.
"Who are we talking about exactly?" Thomas asked with a raised brow.
"Thomas, I need you to do us a favor," Logan said, ignoring the question.
"Uh, sure?" Thomas replied cautiously.
"Great, I need you to take a nap here in the mindscape," Logan explained.
"You want me to take a nap after this sort of conversation?" Thomas frowned.
"Indeed, it is the easiest way to contact the side we are searching for. If he is doing his job, which is a fairly large 'if', he will have to come here. Otherwise we'd be stuck searching for him somewhere he doesn't want to be found. If you are willing to try you may use my room and we will do our best to provide you with anything that will help you relax," Logan insisted.
"I can try," Thomas replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
They all moved Thomas up to Logan's room, summoning in lavender scented pillows, a white noise machine, melatonin, and some "sleepy time tea". All they could do now was wait and try to keep themselves as calm as possible to aid in Thomas's relaxation. Even still Roman was walking up and down the hall outside the open door, nibbling on his thumb nail, Patton was sitting on the floor beside the door with his head buried in his knees, and Logan was standing beside him, quietly drumming his fingers on his arm. Thomas wasn't exactly someone who falls asleep immediately, especially not when he wasn't tired.
Logan's head shot up towards the bed when he heard a soft snore and he saw a familiar figure standing beside his now sleeping host.
"Um, excuse me, can someone please explain why I'm being bothered in the middle of the day. Can't a girl get some rest in this mind? I'm the only needy one in this relationship so why are we going to sleep without my say so?" Remy said, sipping at the Starbucks in his hand.
"Sorry for summoning you in on such short notice, we were unsure of how else to contact you. Let's move this conversation down to the living room while Thomas sleeps, the less he knows about our situation the better," Logan hummed.
Remy just shrugged as he continued sipping his coffee and strutted past Logan and Patton out the door, saluting Roman as they crossed paths on his way to the stairs. Logan helped Patton up and chased after him, leaving Thomas to sleep peacefully. When they met up with him Remy was already lounging sideways on the armchair, his legs crossed and hanging over the arms. They took their places on the couch and Remy watched them over top of his dark sunglasses.
"So, spill the tea. Y'all don't call me unless there's something big," Remy said.
Logan let out a long breath before, for the second time that day, telling the story of what had been happening lately, this time leaving in the more disturbing facts.
"And now you need my help?" Remy guessed once he finished.
"Yes, we are hoping perhaps you know how they got in and if we could use that ourselves to help Virgil," Logan replied.
"Hmm, well. You made sure to lock the door to the subconscious, correct?" Remy guessed.
"Of course."
"And from the main consciousness?"
"Indeed."
"Did you make sure to eliminate the possibility of any of the five of them from sinking in?"
"Everything is tuned to their energy signatures," Logan confirmed.
"Did you destroy Virgil's room?"
"Of course I- Wait, destroy his room? Why would I do that?" Logan asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Ah, so there is where you went wrong," Remy said, seeming proud of himself for figuring it out. "Come on, follow me."
Remy popped up out of his seat and walked back up the stairs.
"I'm getting a little tired of chasing him around," Roman grumbled as they got up to follow him.
Upstairs Remy was leaning against the door to Virgil's room.
"You see if you don't want them getting in, this door-" Remy knocked against the wood for emphasis. "-needs to be gone. Right now Virgil has a room in both of the mindscapes, but in reality it is only one just with a dual nature. If you know how to flip the mindscape while you are standing in that room, the door will lead out into the corresponding house."
"Do you think they destroyed their half?" Roman asked, bobbing on his toes nervously.
"Well it has only been like, what, sixteen hours? I suppose if they didn't think any of you knew about it and it would probably take a lot of energy to actually destroy the room to the point it disappears, it might be open. Only one way to know for sure," Remy popped open the door and walked in, his hands on his hips. "Come on, we've got some bitches to visit."
"Do you even know how to 'flip the mindscape', Remy," Logan asked, walking after him, gently pushing Roman and Patton in before him.
Remy closed the door behind him.
"Why don't you just watch and see, Teach," he replied with a smirk.
Remy snapped and the noise resounding around the room. The walls and floors seemed to begin to melt and tear away being dragged away off to the side and leaving behind a totally different room.
"Your welcome," Remy bowed, looking at them over top of his sunglasses again.
"W-where are we?" Patton whimpered.
"What do you mean, I already told you we are in Virgil's other bedroom," Remy replied.
They all took a moment to take in their surrounding and realized why Patton had sounded so concerned.
"This place is some horrifying, unholy, hybrid of a medieval torture chamber and a messed up BDSM dungeon. This can't be the room Virgil lived in for a good portion of his life," Roman argued unable to believe it.
"After everything we've heard and seen, I think we can say with full certainty that this is in fact exactly that. From the looks of it, at least Virgil isn't in here," Logan replied.
"Then where is he?" Patton asked, ringing his hands nervously.
"Only one way to find out," Roman sighed pointing his thumb over his shoulder and back towards the door.
A/N:Alright so sorry I have to ask about this. I'm currently in the last week of my senior year and I have a lot of assignments to finish this week, not to mention AP tests to prepare for. I have the next chapter written but not the one after that. I'm not certain I'll have time to write that chapter, even if it is going to be posted next Saturday. So here is the thing, this chapter leaves off on a bit of a cliffhanger but the next chapter is going to end on a more intense one. So the question I have to ask is, would you rather I post normally next update and wait longer for the chapter after that or have me skip next update and post the chapter I have on Saturday? Again this is only a hypothetical for if I don't end up having any time to write. I might, by some miracle, get everything done quickly, even if it is six different essays, several review packets and a lot of notes. Sorry again for the inconvenience, it was poor planning and timing on my end.