Not Every Home Is Where You Belong

July 17, 2016

"Virgil! C'mere! I wanna show you something!"

Virgil opened his eyes at the perky sound of Remus's voice floating up the stairs and through his headphones. He groaned and rolled over in bed. Couldn't Remus give him some time for himself? He looked at his clock. It was nearly 7 p.m.

"Virgil!" Remus called again, more insistent this time. Virgil groaned again.

"Coming," Virgil replied. Virgil pulled himself off his bed. Making a quick pit stop in the bathroom to double-check his eyeshadow, he trudged downstairs. He looked around, looking for Remus. The room was a reflection of Thomas's living room, with dark shadows covering the entire room, and cobwebs in every corner.

He wondered where Remus had got to, as each of the Dark Sides glowed with their own colour. Deceit stood out clearly in the gloom, shining yellow, as did Remus, with a lime green glow. As for Virgil, his was black. He would walk in, and the lights around him would be darkened, like someone had turned them down low, but not completely off.

"Virge! Over here!" Virgil turned to see Remus sitting at the kitchen table, glowing his bright green shade. Virgil walked over and pulled out a chair. "I was thinking," he laid out a roll of paper for Virgil to see, covered in obscene sketches and written ideas. Remus started pointing things out. "If I gave him the idea that his friends are dangerous, that they would hurt Thomas.... Would you add some Paranoia into it? I reckon that would really spice things up!"

Virgil rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hadn't been sleeping too well for the past couple of weeks. "Yeah... Sure, whatever, ReeRee."

"It's been too quiet," Remus continued, acknowledging Virgil's agreement with a slight nod. "All the Light Sides with their goodness and happiness and all that disgustingness. We need to turn things around. Bleaurgh, whenever I think about them, and all their wonderfulness, I feel sick." Remus turned to Virgil. "Don't you?"

"Hmm?" Virgil started, he hadn't been paying attention, and had been slowly zoning out and dozing off. "Sorry, what?"

"I said," said Remus pointedly, "Don't you just hate the Light Sides? They're revolting."

"Oh... Yeah..."

Remus looked closely at Virgil. "You should go to bed. You don't look too good."

"Yeah... Think I will... 'Night Remus," said Virgil, backing up his chair from the table and walking back up the stairs. "Tell Dee I've gone to bed."

"Will do. 'Night!" That was the last Virgil heard before he shut his bedroom door and pulled up his headphones. He lay down and pulled the covers over his head.

Tears started spilling over his face. The feeling had been coming on for months. The same feeling. The same thought.

I don't belong here.

Which begged the same question that had been tugging at him.

Where do I belong?

And as he slipped into unconsciousness, the tears thickened and blurred his vision. His last thought, as he fell asleep, was that if only Dee would notice, Remus would notice, someone would notice, someone would help him, someone, anyone...

When Virgil woke the next morning, it was to a hacking cough from downstairs. As he made his way down, he heard Deceit croak from the couch. "Here we are, the man of the moment! Virgil, you mind coming over and making me better?"

Virgil blinked, then understood. It was rare, but occasionally his paranoia of whatever, such as catching some kind of disease, would rub off on the others, and sure enough, there was Deceit, lying on the couch, covered in what Virgil recognised as chicken pox spots. Remus was sitting on the floor next to Deceit, with a wet cloth and a bowl of water. "Uh, sure Dee," Virgil replied.

Virgil walked over to the couch and began drawing out the disease. He had done this before, and knew what needed to be done. He needed to draw out the paranoia and then he could hide it away, push it down inside himself, where it couldn't hurt anyone. Well, not really anyone.

The others didn't know, but every time he took away his paranoia from them, it would slowly affect him, break him, bit by bit, on the inside. And the feeling that came from that would never go away. It felt like a huge weight being pressed against his chest, that got heavier as he drew the disease out of Deceit.

"Thanks, Virge."

Virgil shook his head slightly, bringing himself back at the sound of Deceit's voice. He had been imagining what life would be like if he was one of the Light Sides. He had been fantasizing about it a lot, and found that he actually felt like he wanted to be one of them. Virgil pushed the thought away. Here was where he belonged. With the Dark Sides.

"No problem, Dee."

Virgil walked to the kitchen and pulled out a bowl and a box of cereal.

"Want something, you two?"

A chorus of "Nah" heralded from the living room.

"Okay, then," Virgil replied. He finished making his breakfast and carried the bowl to the table, picking up a spoon on the way. "What d'you guys wanna do today?"

"I don't know. Nothing, really. You got any plans?" asked Deceit.

"Maybe I'll pop in on Thomas. Check up on him. Make sure he's terrified. The usual stuff," Virgil replied. Normally the mere sight of Paranoia was enough to put Thomas on edge. He had dripping, streaked black eyeshadow that trailed down his cheeks; messy brown hair; and wide, staring eyes, with tiny purple pupils. And of course his customary outfit: an overlarge black hoodie, black tracksuit pants and big, black sneakers. His jacket had six ripped holes in the back, as did his shirt, but his shirt had been badly stitched up. Virgil had never explained them to anyone, not even the other Dark Sides.

"Cool. Have fun," replied Deceit with a grin.

Virgil finished his breakfast, washed up his bowl and spoon, and placed them on the drying rack. "Catch you guys later," he said, and sank down to see Thomas.

When Virgil rose up again, he was met with a small, stifled gasp. This was customary. Thomas always did this when he showed up.

"Hey there Thomas. How you doing there?" Virgil asked, not really caring for an answer, and could feel the evil grin creeping onto his face, hear it in his voice.

"F-fine. I-I'm not s-scared of you!" Thomas stuttered.

"Oh, really? Seems quite the opposite," countered Virgil, leaning back on the wall of Thomas' bedroom, now smiling widely. "Actually, seems more like you're... Paranoid that I'll do something scary. Now isn't that interesting?"

"I'm not scared! Logic explained it to me, I don't have to be scared of you, you're irrational, totally ignorable," Thomas said, still looking utterly terrified at the sudden appearance of the scarier facet of his personality.

"Oh really? Logic explained it to you? Did he tell you that he can be wrong? That I can be a lot more powerful than I look? Because there might be things that Logic could be keeping from you, things that he might not want you to know."

L-Logic wouldn't keep things from me! I know that, he's kind, and he would tell me if something was up!"

"Mhm, of course, Thomas. You just keep on hiding away from the truth. That'll do you a world of good!"

"Uhh... Guys? A little help here?" Thomas called, voice shaking. Instantly, Morality, Creativity and Logic rose up to counter Paranoia.

"Ah. It's you," said Roman. "Once more." He rolled his eyes.

"Paranoia. Again. Thomas, remember, I have told you, Paranoia is not to be feared. He is irrational and superfluous," added Logan.

"Paranoia? Kiddo, come on, couldn't you give Thomas a break?" Patton's tone, considerably gentler than the other's, was something that broke Virgil to the core. He did his best to hide it. Patton was the only one who ever showed him kindness besides the other Dark Sides.

"Yep, it's me. Back again. What's the problem? Did I... Scare you?" Virgil manipulated his voice at the last couple of words, getting louder, shouting, for a moment letting out the emotions that had been building up inside him.

All three of the Light Sides took an involuntary step closer together, banding together in front of Thomas, who had started to tremble.

"We've gotten rid of you before, we'll do it again!" declared Roman triumphantly, drawing his sword.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "And yet, I always seem to bounce back and return. How strange. Must be your lack of power. Or the fact that you're clearly the weakest one here," drawled Virgil. He flicked his hand towards Roman, and a spurt of black mist flew out of the end of his sleeve. Paranoia. It hit Roman in the chest, and he fell backwards.

Now Virgil was in control. Roman and Virgil were surrounded by darkness, and he knew that for Patton and Logan it would be the same. For Thomas, it would look like his Sides had all suddenly disappeared. Only Roman could hear him now. Now to spark the thoughts.

"You know, they know how weak you really are. Thomas thinks you are just a big drama queen. Logan thinks you are too over-the-top. Patton thinks you talk about yourself too much." Virgil's voice distorted, bending, seemed to fill the air around them both. Roman had visibly begun to shake. Perfect. "One day, they will leave you. They will decide enough is enough, that they don't want to have to handle you anymore, that you're nothing but a waste of time and space, and they'll send you to The Dump." The Dump was where the Sides sent bad memories, embarrassing memories, terrifying thoughts. It was the trash dump of Thomas' mind. Of course, the Light Sides would never really do that to Roman, but because of his insecurity, Roman was the easiest to manipulate with Virgil's Paranoia.

"They would never! Pat... Logan, th-they would never do that! Never!"

Virgil felt that. A slight push as Roman tried to push the paranoia from his mind. Roman knew what would happen if Virgil's paranoia set in. Roman would distance himself from the others for a while, scared he was annoying them, which would create rifts between the Light Sides, letting Thomas' walls down for the other Dark Sides to get in easier and hurt Thomas.

But this was enough. Despite who he was, where he came from... Virgil found he didn't want to hurt Thomas. Of course, he hid it from the others. He had a reputation to uphold. But...

"See you round, Roman. Or should I say... Creativity?" As Virgil sank down, he saw the wince that Roman gave. Roman knew full well that Virgil was closer with his brother than him, and thought Roman the inferior half of Creativity. "Just remember, Creativity... Remember..."

"Hey, guys. I'm back!" Virgil called as he rose up into his room.

"Cool," Deceit's voice came from the living room. "Have fun? Or the usual?"

"Just the usual. Scared Thomas, taunted Roman, you know the drill," Virgil replied. Then realisation struck.

He really did want to be a Light Side.

He honestly wanted to leave the Dark Sides.

And that thought scared him. How could he leave the place that had been his home since Thomas was a child?

How would he do that? Suddenly, he knew the answer. "Patton," he breathed. Patton would help him! Patton would talk to him, help him, surely...

"Guys? I'm going out!" Virgil yelled down the stairs.

"Where to?" Remus asked, sounding as if he'd just finished doing something he wasn't meant to.

"Just out," replied Virgil.

"Okay. See you!" called Remus.

And Virgil sank down once more.

When Virgil rose up into Patton's room, the first thing he did was silently creep over to where Patton was sitting, facing away from him, reading a book. Virgil quickly clamped a hand over Patton's mouth.

"Hey! What are- mphh," Patton began, and was muffled by Virgil. Virgil leaned in.

"Listen," Virgil whispered. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you scream, or tell the others I was ever here, I will. Understand?" Patton nodded. "You going to stay quiet?" Patton nodded again. "Okay then." Virgil slowly pulled his hand back.

"What are you doing here?" asked Patton, in the same whispered tone Virgil had used.

Virgil took a deep breath. "I... I just..." Virgil suddenly found he couldn't speak properly. It felt like his throat was closing up. "I just... needed a friend." Virgil surprised both of them with that answer. Even more surprising was... It was the truth.

Patton's expression softened. "Hey, I can talk if you need someone to talk to." Virgil had been right to come to Patton.

"Just... would you do something with me? Nothing major, something small, just something."

"Uhh.. Sure, Paranoia," Patton replied. Only the Dark Sides knew Virgil's real name. That was how he wanted it to stay. "Do you want to start now? I'm pretty sure Logan and Roman are downstairs right now."

"No, not now. Can I come back here later tonight? When they're asleep?" asked Virgil.

"Sure!" replied Patton enthusiastically.

Patton. Ever the welcoming, accepting father figure.

"Cool. I'll see you at... 11:30?"

"Okay! See you then!"

Virgil sank, again, into the floor, leaving Patton standing there looking happy but utterly bewildered as to what had just happened. Then Virgil rose back up in his room, and walked downstairs for lunch.

After lunch, which consisted largely of sitting eating hotdogs with Deceit trying to stop Remus from demonstrating how to shove a hotdog entirely down your throat without chewing, Virgil made his way back upstairs. He put his headphones on and lay down on his bed. He'd have a nap. That would mean he could stay up all night with Patton if he wanted - Virgil only ever needed about three hours of sleep.

He set his alarm for 11:20, which would give him enough time to get ready, and promptly fell asleep.

When his alarm went off in his headphones, Virgil flailed around for a moment before remembering what was happening. He turned off his alarm, got up and went to the bathroom to redo his eyeshadow. He had a reputation to uphold, and letting the Light Sides see him without his customary eyeshadow might lessen their fear of him. Virgil couldn't let that happen.

After he finished his eyeshadow, Virgil sank down, and rose up again, back into Patton's room.

Patton was lying on his bed, on his laptop. Virgil knew hardly anything about him, but he knew enough to guess that Patton was probably looking at pictures of dogs. Virgil cleared his throat.

"Hey, Patton."

Patton looked up with a start. Virgil always arrived silently, so it was hard to tell when he showed up if you hadn't seen him. "Hey, kiddo. You ready?"

"Yes, but..." Virgil replied. The other Light Sides couldn't see him with Patton. No matter what. They couldn't. "Are you sure the others aren't out there?"

"Yes. I'm sure. Would you like me to go first to show you that there's no-one down there?" Patton asked.

Virgil nodded.

"Okay then. Come on, let's go!" Patton offered his hand to Virgil, who just looked at it until Patton dropped it. Patton looked awkward for a few moments before resuming his usual happy demeanor. "Let's go, Paranoia."

"Okay," replied Virgil. The two of them made their way downstairs. "So, have you got a plan for tonight?" asked Virgil.

"Oh, yeah! I thought we could bake cookies together! You think?"

"Oh, umm. Sure, Patton." Virgil was slightly surprised. He didn't know what he had been expecting. Patton beamed.

As they came downstairs and went to the kitchen, Virgil saw that Patton had already prepared everything, and pulled out two aprons from who-knows-where. "Have you ever made cookies before, kiddo?" Patton asked.

"Umm.." In truth, Virgil had - once. He had bet Remus that he could make edible cookies with Remus' deodorant and Remus had bet him that he wouldn't have the guts to try and eat them afterwards. Virgil had been sick for a week after this, as Virgil didn't really know how to make cookies, and combined with eating deodorant, had given him a bad stomach ache. He didn't feel like this was something Patton needed to know. "No, Patton, never."

"Well, I'll show you!"

"Okay."

Patton and Virgil took their places at the counter. "First you need to put on the apron to keep everything off your clothes." Patton tied his up behind his back, then helped Virgil with his. "Great! Now, we need to wash our hands with soap, to make sure nothing gross gets into the cookies."

Virgil looked nervous. "Umm.. Patton?"

"Yes?" asked Patton, already washing his hands.

"Umm.. I should probably tell you.." Being a Dark Side, whenever water touched his skin, it burned. It had to be specially filtered to stop the burning. The Dark Sides' taps all had filters, but he didn't think the Light Sides would. "I can't.. Really... Touch water.."

"Really?" Patton looked surprised. "Why?"

"Oh, uh.." Virgil didn't think it was a good idea to reveal one of his weaknesses to a Light Side, even if it was just Patton. "I just can't. Dark Side thing, you know."

"Oh.. Okay, kiddo. You can just use hand sanitiser, there's a bottle over there!" Patton pointed a dripping hand towards the living room table, half obscured by darkness. The reason Patton could barely see the table was Virgil's glow. Only the Dark Sides knew about this, but Virgil had done something he hardly ever did. He had cast away his glow so that it would stay in one place, not follow him around. He didn't want it around to scare Patton. He hardly ever did this because it took so much energy to keep it off.

"Okay, Patton." Virgil made his way over to the bottle and squeezed some onto his hands. Even though it wasn't water, it still felt hot. It didn't burn, but it felt unnaturally warm against his hands. Virgil didn't like that feeling. He walked back over to the kitchen. "Okay, what next?"

"Now, we get the ingredients, and put them in a bowl. Can you pick up that blue bowl over there, I've already melted the butter into it."

Virgil picked up the bowl and passed it to Patton, who poured it into the big silver mixing bowl.

"Then we crack the eggs. Know how to do that?"

"Not really."

"Well, you do it like this!" Patton demonstrated how to tap the egg against the bowl, crack it open and pour it into the bowl.

Virgil tried to copy, and dripped egg all over the counter. He had hit the egg too hard against the bowl. "Umm.."

"That's okay, kiddo!" Patton took a cloth out of the drawer, wet it under the tap and wiped up the mess, before dropping the cloth into the sink. Patton looked into the bowl. "Enough of it made it into the bowl, it's fine."

"Oh, okay." Virgil's cheeks burned. He took a deep breath and felt the heat withdraw.

"Next, we.."

Virgil showed up in his room an hour later. It was late, he was holding a box of cookies in his hands, and had a giant smile plastered all over his face. After taking about three cookies from it, he hid the box under his bed, so he would have a stash for snacks. He stuck all three cookies into his mouth and got changed. He couldn't deny it, happy as he was, he was tired. He went to bed excited for more meetings with Patton.

September 19, 2016

The months had passed in a blur. Virgil had been meeting up with Patton for two months now, and was enjoying his company more and more. Occasionally, Virgil would go over during the day, when Dee and ReeRee were out causing trouble somewhere, and the other Light Sides were off directing Thomas through things. But because it was rare for the Light Sides to be helping Thomas without Patton, Virgil mostly stuck to nighttime visits.

But he was worried. He could tell by the whisperings that Deceit and Remus were planning something big. Virgil tried to put it out of his mind. He was just being paranoid.

He had a meeting with Patton soon. Patton had promised him a surprise, and today was a rare daytime visit, so Virgil had no clue what it would be.

He looked at the clock. 12:37. Patton had asked him to be there at 12:40, and Virgil didn't see the harm in coming a few minutes early. Virgil sank down.

As Virgil rose up again, he could tell something was off before he even fully rose up. There was more than just one person in the room.

"See, you guys? Here's Paranoia!"

"What..?" Virgil was confused. And then horrified.

Roman and Logan were there.

"Patton? What are they doing here?" Virgil could hear his voice getting louder, harsher, changing from the softer tones he so usually used with Patton. "You promised me these meetings would stay secret from them. You swore."

"Meetings?" said Roman incredulously. "Patton, you mean you've been meeting up with hi- with a- with a Dark Side? Have you gone mad?"

"I wanted you three to meet, and become friends!" Patton turned to Logan and Roman. "He's really nice, you just need to spend some time with them." He turned to Virgil. "They're nice too, they won't hurt you, and they won't make you leave. I won't let them."

"Let us? Let us? Patton, we will be casting this demon out as soon as we can!" Roman declared.

Patton turned to Logan, looking worried. "Logan..?"

Logan sighed. "If it would make you happy, Patton," said Logan, adjusting his glasses. "I would be willing to spend some time with Paranoia."

Patton clapped his hands and beamed. "Great! Roman?"

"But.. But.. He's a Dark Side! He's a bad guy!"

That stung, in a way the Light Sides could rarely manage. "I'm not always the bad guy.." he said quietly.

"Roman!" Patton insisted. "Come on!"

Roman groaned. "Fiiiiiiiinnee. Just for you, Pat."

"Okay! Now, let's head downstairs, I set up some board games!" Patton said.

Logan sighed again. "Okay. Let's go down."

The next few hours passed in relative comfort.

Patton was enthusiastic as ever. He was happy the other Light Sides had agreed to spend some time with Virgil, and he was happy that Virgil seemed to be happy too.

Roman was grumpy, but he eventually warmed up, joking around, participating in the games enthusiastically. He stayed wary of Virgil, though. He was a bad guy, after all.

Logan seemed to enjoy the afternoon. He was quiet, and stayed back a bit when games involved a lot of moving around or strange actions.

Virgil enjoyed himself, as he felt safe around Patton, though slightly on edge. And.. Virgil could feel it, he really enjoyed it here with them. With the Light Sides. He was growing closer to them, slowly starting to actually care for them.

And they felt the same way about him.

When Virgil rose back up into his room, he was hungry for lunch. He headed downstairs. No-one would be home yet, so- "Where've you been?"

Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin - Deceit was sitting in the living room, reading a book.

"Just- just checking up on Thomas. Haunted him while he was out. You know," replied Virgil, terrified that Deceit had found him out.

Deceit closed his book. "I can tell you're lying, you know." Virgil's mouth dried out. "But, as long as you're not doing anything wrong, or weird or creepy, I guess it's fine."

"Yeah.. Want some lunch?" Virgil asked.

"Not really, I already ate," replied Deceit, and as he turned away, Virgil let out a great big sigh of relief.

That was too close.

He had to be more careful.

October 4, 2016

Virgil had been spending the past few weeks hanging out with both Patton and the other Light Sides, and though Roman was still wary of him, now fully felt both of them to be his family.

Both the Light and the Dark Sides.

He was scared, though.

Scared the other Dark Sides would find out.

Scared the Light Sides would push him away.

Scared that Deceit and Remus were planning something against the Light Sides, something terrible, from their rising amount of whispered conversations that stopped the instant he walked in.

Scared because he didn't know where he belonged.

Scared because, try as he might, he couldn't ignore who he was, where he came from. He couldn't ignore, he was a Dark Side.

He was a bad guy.

And that was something he never, ever, wanted to be.

He headed downstairs and, as usual, heard the whispers.

But this time, they didn't stop.

"Virgil! We have something to tell you!" Remus called from the table.

Deceit waved him over.

"We've been talking, and Remus and I have made a plan to take down the Light Sides. For good."

Virgil's stomach dropped.

"What?" His voice barely a whisper.

"I know!" replied Remus, mistaking his horror for excitement. "It's what we've been working on, we didn't want to involve you until we had most of the details worked out, we know how much you can get paranoid over everything that could go wrong."

"Oh, great.. Thanks guys.." Virgil didn't know how to reply. What should he do? What were the Dark Sides planning? "So what're the plans?"

"Well, we thought we start with you," replied Deceit. "You make all three of them paranoid of each other, and they separate. Then I come in, telling them what we already know. That they're weak, they hate each other, the usual thing. Then I'll lead them all in different ways, trap them in their own insecurities, their own heads. Meanwhile, Remus-"

"I'll be scaring Thomas!" cut in Remus. "And you come to help me! Then once Dee's done with the Lights, he'll join us and we'll be the dominant Sides!"

"Uhh..." What should Virgil say? What could Virgil do? Besides... Besides... "No. We can't."

Tell the truth.

"What?" Deceit and Remus looked shocked.

"We can't do that. I won't help you."

"And why wouldn't you help us take down the Light Sides?" asked Deceit, voice rising.

"Because it would break Thomas. The Light Sides help him. We can't destroy that. Because it would take away the balance. You could send Thomas into depression. You could make him suicidal. You have no idea what the consequences could be. Because-"

"Any other reasons?" asked Remus looking angry, and for the first time ever, wary of Virgil, like he was a bomb that might go off at any moment.

"Because they care about me. About us. And I care about them. We can't betray them."

"WHAT?" yelled Deceit so loudly both Virgil and Remus jumped. His voice was a mixture of anger and incredulity. "They care about you? Since when?"

Time to tell them.

"I've been meeting up with them for months. Spending time with them. They're really nice. And- and- I care about them."

"Well," said Deceit, now shaking with rage at this betrayal. "What do you think you're going to do?"

"Stop you from beginning your plan." Virgil was angry now, too. How could Deceit be like this? They were basically brothers! Deceit was a traitor. Virgil was fuming.

"If you won't help us against the enemy, we will consider you one of the enemy. Go on, declare your Lightness! How dare you? How dare you? You are a Dark Side. You will always be a Dark Side. You have never been anything but a Dark Side. And we will not let you stop us." Completely overcome with anger, Deceit glow a blinding yellow, his glow intensifying. He was transforming. It was happening.

When the Dark Sides got angry, really angry, their animal counterpart would emerge.

Deceit legs began to glow yellow as well. They slowly fused together and grew longer, transforming into a long, shining yellow snake tail. His scales spread, and his entire face was covered in green scales. "HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US?" he boomed, voice magnified tenfold. Remus cowered, but Virgil was not afraid.

His glow grew too, enveloping the room in pitch black, so that they could only see each other and Remus, with his small lime green pulse.

Virgil's back burned. This was what he had been hiding from the others. They had never seen him transform.

He felt the six strong, black spider legs burst through the tears in his shirt and jacket, felt himself rise up as the legs lifted him up. Deceit lifted himself up too, his tail rising him higher.

Virgil's face had the feeling of splitting open in many different places. Bright purple, tiny-pupiled eyes opened all over his face. His transformation was a spider. Just like Deceit's was a snake.

Remus cowered lower. Virgil turned to Deceit. "HOW COULD YOU CAST ME OUT?" he screamed, and his voice magnified louder, higher, sharper. Remus covered his ears. Deceit winced. "I HAVE BEEN A BROTHER TO YOU SINCE THOMAS WAS BORN AND YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS?"

"YOU!" shrieked Deceit. "YOU BETRAYED US! YOU ABANDON US AT THE TIME WHEN WE CAN FINALLY RISE ABOVE THE LIGHT SIDES? HOW COULD YOU?"

But Virgil was done playing by Deceit's rules. A long leg struck out, and Deceit smashed into the wall behind him, and sank down to the floor, unmoving. Remus let out a tiny squeak of shock and utter terror. Virgil turned to him. Angry as he was, he couldn't bring himself to hurt Remus. He really was just like the child of the Dark Sides. "Well, are you going to help me or stay with him?" asked Virgil, quieter but his voice still distorted.

"I- I- I'm going t-to s-stay.. With D-Deceit..." replied Remus quietly. He squeaked in terror again as two of Virgil's legs stretched out toward him.

"Stay still, or I WILL hurt you. Understand?"

Remus nodded. Virgil picked him up easily, and two more legs lifted up to his back, drawing away to reveal shining silver webbing. Virgil wrapped up Remus, so that his head was free but he couldn't escape on his own, then wrapped him and Deceit, who was still unconscious, together, and left them propped up against the wall.

As Virgil sank down, anger fading, his spider legs drawing back inside of him, all he felt was one thing.

Sadness.

He rose up, and Thomas gasped, louder than usual. "I know," said Virgil before he could say anything. He must look like a mess, sweating and hair messier then usual, the back of his jacket ripped to tatters now because he had transformed multiple times before. "Can you call the others? I need to talk to them. And you."

"O..kay.. Guys? Paranoia wants to talk, apparently," called Thomas uncertainly.

All three Light Sides rose up simultaneously. "Vi- Paranoia?" asked Patton. "You wanted to talk?"

"I have something to tell you," started Virgil. He took a deep breath, and began. "Deceit and Creativity were planning to take over as the dominant Sides. They wanted me to help, and when I refused, they called me traitor and.. And.. And we fought. Badly. And they cast me out. Thomas, you should be careful, and try to stay in the best mental health for a while, they're sure to get over that plan at some time. Morality, Logic, Creativity, I need to talk to you privately. Thomas, remember. Be careful."

Then Virgil sank down into the Mind Palace, where he hardly ever went. The Light Sides followed suit, rising up around them. "Okay, here's some more details," he said, before the questions Patton so clearly had started to spill. "The Darks were planning to manipulate you into abandoning your duties as Thomas' Light Sides and take over, and when I refused to help, we got into an argument. A really bad one. I fought Deceit, and Remus stayed with him. I can't go back to them. They called me traitor, and cast me out. And I don't think I could force myself to ever go back to them, other than to get my stuff. But I don't know where to go."

"You can stay with us! We'll make you one of us, you can help!" Patton exclaimed, looking both worried and excited at the same time.

"I don't think Roman would like that too much," replied Virgil. Roman was looking clearly appalled at the idea of living with a Dark Side.

"He's a Dark Side!" Roman burst out. "He can't stay with us!"

"Roman!" Logan snapped. "If what Paranoia says is true, he just saved us."

"True? Of course it's not true! He's a bad guy! Why would he help us?"

"Because I care about you," said Virgil quietly. "Because in the months we spent together, I felt it. You guys are my family."

"And you are part of ours!" Patton said, running forward and throwing his arms around Virgil. Virgil stiffened. He had never been hugged before. He slowly returned the hug, and then felt something shift inside him. Something that scared him. He pulled away quickly, wide-eyed, staring at Patton, feeling everything go wrong inside him.

"Paranoia?" The concern in Logan's voice was clear. "Are you alright?"

"No... No.." Virgil wheezed. He could barely breathe. He was terrified. Suddenly, his glow deepened, enveloping him, so that he was a mass of black, and the Lights could only just make him out in the middle of it all.

Virgil felt it inside of him as his eyes, with their tiny pupils, changed, fading to brown.

He felt the huge weight of his removed Paranoia leave his chest.

He felt a giant shift inside him and fell to his knees.

And then the giant black mass changed.

From black to purple.

And then dispersed.

Virgil stood up, with all three Lights staring at him in terror. "Are- are you okay?" Patton voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes," Virgil replied, in an equal tone.

But not out of fear.

Out of happiness.

He knew where he belonged.

He knew who he was.

He was not the bad guy.

He was not Paranoia.

He was Anxiety.

He was a Light Side.