It was midday when they came to a stop in a small town, they wouldn't be staying there long they just wanted to rest for a moment. Logan and Roman had gone off to find some food, even though they already had plenty Roman was insisting that they get 'an actually good' snack. The others didn't bother complaining, just said sure and moved on. Patton and Virgil meanwhile, were asking around the town to see if anybody had any clue which direction they had to head in.

Logan and Roman were walking between stalls inspecting the food they might be able to purchase. Conversation was being made between the two of them something about a legend or myth the two of them had heard as children. It was going well, the two didn't often have super in-depth conversations, and when they did it was not uncommon for them to be about differing opinions on the matter.

The two stopped in front of a cart selling sweet dried fruits, still talking together as they picked out a few options. One of them would pick up a bag, or point to it in suggestion and the other would either nod approvingly or shake their heads. After a few minutes of looking they finally had the items chosen and ready. "Excuse me, sir," Roman called to the man who owned the stand, he turned to look at them, "We'd like to purchase these items please"

The man wiped his hand on the apron he wore as he approached them before beginning to speak in a language neither of the two recognized. Logan and Roman exchanged a look between each other, both obviously clueless as to what the man said. "We don't understand," Logan said to the man, "Is there possibly another language we can communicate to you in?"

The man's eyes narrowed in dislike as Logan spoke English, a language used in both the Light Realm and Dark Realm. After a moment or two, he spoke again in the same language as before though it sounded a bit harsher this time. Once again the two friends remained confused, "I'm sorry, we don't speak that language, do you-"

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid," The man spit out in English making the other two take a step back, "Leave, I don't sell to foreigners," the man said making the other two look at him in surprise.

"You won't sell to us simply because we do not speak the same languages as you?" Logan asked.

"I won't sell to you because if you don't speak those languages you ain't from here. Leave before I get the guards"

The two friends stood there for a moment, slightly shocked at what they were hearing. Neither of them had ever experienced anything like this before. They had never really looked too different from the people around them at home. And even here, the only thing that might hint they weren't from the Dark Realm was Roman's tan skin which stood out among the naturally pale skin the native Dark Realm citizens had. Not speaking a language though? Why did that mark them as someone this man couldn't- no wouldn't- sell to?

"Go on now, move it," The man said

"Us not being from the same place as you are is not a valid reason to refuse service to us. We are paying cust-"

"I got the right to refuse service to anybody!" The man said loudly, "Now leave,"

Roman looked absolutely furious with the man in front of them. Logan looked angry as well but less so, more annoyed. The prince was about to show the man a piece of his mind but Logan took hold of his arm and tried pulling him away. He had put the fruits back and the two had begun to leave but before they could get very far Virgil and Patton had found them.

"Hey, kiddo's find anything good to eat?" Patton asked with a smile.

"We did but that man refused to sell to us," Roman said angrily

'What did you two do?' Virgil signed

Logan rolled his eyes slightly as he fixed his glasses "Apparently we failed to learn a language, this marked us as foreigners and because of this the man won't sell us anything"

Patton frowned, "Well that isn't very nice of him,"

Virgil nodded in agreement, 'I'll take care of it,'

"You won't even speak English," Roman said, still slightly annoyed, "How are you gonna speak some random languages?" Virgil only pretended to write on an invisible notepad as he went up to the man's counter.

The man looked up at them, "Aw not you two again! Look I ready told your friends I won't sell to ya!"

Virgil rolled his eyes as he took his notepad out of his pocket and began writing, 'Stop being an ass. Sell us the food'

"I don't sell to foreigners"

'Well isn't this your lucky day? I am Prince Virgil Anxiety Black. Sell us the food'

The man looked at the group of boys giving them a 'yeah right I don't believe you' look' With his arms crossed in front of him he scoffed and spoke again, "Our princes are missing, get a move on now. I'm calling over the guards"

'Crown Prince Janus is missing. I am on my way to find a way to save him and the rest of the captured citizens. I am also acting king. You're breaking multiple violations with this setup. Sell us the food Dumbo or I'll throw you in prison and steel you knee caps'

The man still stared at them with that look, "Papers, 'your highness'" The man gave a fake bow as he spoke sarcastically. Virgil's eyes narrowed as he shoved his notepad back in his pockets and started searching through his bag. Papers. Every Dark Realm citizen had them. They were equivalent to that of an ID or a driver's license. Normally parents would hold them until their child turned fifteen, after that they were the kid's responsibility. Virgil had been carrying his since he was twelve. There were different expectations for the princes, expectations that needed to be met.

His papers rarely ever left his bag, he was surprised Logan hadn't found them when he searched through it the first time. But then again his bag was a bit of a mess. He pulled them out now and flattened them out on the table, smirking as the man's face went pale and wide with shock. "I apologize, your highness, I never would have said anything like this if I knew it was you. Please, take as much fruit as you'd like" the man bowed again, this time for real.

Virgil rolled his eyes, 'You need to be treating everyone like you'd treat me. It's called common courtesy and etiquette. I've known about it since I was three, don't be an ass next time, nobodies got time for that, especially since we all need to be helping each other right now'

"Of course your majesty. My humblest apologies. it won't happen again, on my honor. Which fruit would you like sir"

Roman smiled, about to answer when Virgil showed the notepad again, 'Nah, your fruits crumby. We're gonna go somewhere people aren't rude and annoying' With that Virgil turned away, taking hold of Patton sleeve and pulling them with him.

"Kiddo, you shouldn't call people names like that. It's rude" Patton said. Virgil just rolled his eyes and ignored the comment.

"Why'd you do that? He's letting us buy stuff now" Roman asked

'I swear Princey, there are times when you're just like Remus and times when you're nothing like him. This is the latter. Remus wouldn't be eating from a place that treated him like dirt and you shouldn't either. The food not worth it, trust me. We'll find something better'

"But they have dried mango! Do you know how little mango we get in our kingdom?" Roman whined. Virgil shot him a look that very clearly told them all he didn't care and the search for food began again. It didn't take very long for them to find another cart selling dried fruit. This time ran by a friendly elderly man who complimented Roman's robes. Roman ended up agreeing with Virgil. Food does taste better when the people you got it from weren't treating you poorly.

But he did wonder... Virgil had mentioned his brother. How he thought they were alike and different. How many things about his brother had changed since they had last seen each other? Would they even recognize each other as brothers anymore? Virgil knew so much about him too, he couldn't help it. Roman found himself slightly jealous that Virgil knew so much about Remus, while he didn't even know what was real about him anymore.

"...It's awful, why does he think he can do that? Does that sort of thing happen often?"

It had been hours since they had left the small town, the people they had spoken to had confirmed that the attacker had indeed gone north and they should keep following the map. But yet despite it having been hours Roman was still talking about the man's racism and rudeness.

Virgil understood that it had upset him and made him angry, both of those rational feelings to have. But he wished he would just shut up about it!

Honestly, Roman was acting like racism didn't exist in the Light Realm even though it obviously did. Virgil knew that racism existed there because in the short time he had been in their kingdom he had faced it. General Tafe for one, had slipped a few comments into conversation, and there were at least two other members in their king council who had similar beliefs. Not only that but racism existed everywhere, not just in the Dark Realm but everywhere. Roman seemed to be ignoring that fact and it was all beginning to get on Virgil's nerves.

He sighed loudly and pulled the hood of his robes up and over his head before speeding up slightly and putting a distance between himself and the other prince. Logan followed him so that the two were side by side. Behind them, Patton continued to walk next to Roman and tried to make him feel better.

"Are you alright Ann?" Logan asked him.

'Yeah, I think I'm just getting fed up with people' Virgil answered, 'Social interaction is not my thing'

"But you are a prince," Logan said, he received a 'so what' look and continued, "Roman, and Remus when he was still with us, were often interacting with residents of other kingdoms or high-class citizens. Don't you have to do something similar?"

'Kind of. My dad wasn't really strict about that sorta thing. And people only really wanted to talk to Dee since he'd be king next. I'd be at parties for the first couple of hours, then slip away. Meetings were harder to avoid though'

Logan nodded, "Did the guests not question it? I often attended such events with my uncle, I don't think he'd like if I were to 'slip away'"

Virgil shrugged, 'My trait name is Anxiety. The whole kingdom knows I have it. Some people don't understand what it is or what it does, but most people don't question it' Neither said anything for a moment before Virgil started signing and writing again, 'Your uncle takes you to the parties and meetings?'

"Occasionally," Logan said, "He has no children, and I no longer have any siblings. I am the only heir in my family"

No longer.

Meaning at one point he had had siblings.

Virgil didn't comment on it, seeing as it seemed if he did try commenting on it the conversation could very easily become slightly awkward and dark. Virgil, like so many others, tried to avoid talking about the deaths of loved ones. And that, as of this week, Virgil and his brother had become orphans, death was sort of a touchy subject for him at the moment. Of course, he had no idea if death is what had taken Logan's siblings away from him, but it was a possibility. Especially seeing as Logan had earlier said he had no father. So, despite there being so many questions and mystery behind those two words, Virgil didn't say anything and the two continued on their way.

They stopped a few hours later in the next town they came to, renting out a few rooms in one of the inns in town. To nobody's surprise, Virgil insisted he stay in the same room as Patton and left Roman and Logan to share the other room.

They ate dinner in one of the rooms though, not in the dining room on the first floor. Virgil and Patton sat on the floor, Roman on a bed, and Logan sitting at the desk on a chair because it was available and it made sense. Despite prodding from both Patton and Roman Virgil did not communicate much during dinner though, he didn't write or sign anything and would really only respond to short yes or no questions.

Nothing was wrong.

Nothing other than him having hit that days limit on social interaction.

He was just socially exhausted. That's all it was. And listening was always so much easier than contributing.

If everything was normal and he felt this way he'd just take a nap. Or go on a walk alone or something. He couldn't do that now though. This wasn't normal. This wasn't home. This wasn't anything like he was used to.

So he'd just have to deal with it for now. Maybe tomorrow he'd have more energy for social interaction, but as of today, he was done. So, as soon as it seemed acceptable, Virgil excused himself from the circle and went into the other room to lie down and hopefully get some sleep.

Thirty minutes later and he was still awake. He heard the door unlock and creak open before Patton came into the room. The other boy barely made any noise at all and didn't even have to turn the light on, he somehow managed to change into his nightclothes in the dark without making any noise. Virgil had to admit that he was slightly impressed. Every time Remy, Dee, or Remus tried to do that they'd fail obnoxiously.

"Good night Ann," Virgil heard Patton whisper as the other bed creaked under their weight. Virgil knocked against the wooden bed as if that was some sort of understandable response. Patton giggled before settling into bed. Virgil smiled as well before turning away from his friend and finally getting some sleep.