It had been three days since Virgil passed out and Roman was nearly kidnapped. That meant ten days since the attack. They hadn't gotten very far with finding information, just a few rumors that only a small percentage of which have been confirmed and a smaller percentage were correct. They had gotten far in distance though. Already hitting ten- or was it eleven- different towns and villages. They spoke to six mayors or people who had taken a leader's position if the mayor was gone.

Despite not wanting to, Virgil had fallen into the place of a king. The others helped him often, especially Roman. He helped Virgil make decisions that were hard for him, like when one man asked if they should still be arresting people who broke laws when they caught a woman stealing from a jewelry store. Or someone else asked what they should tell children whose parents had either died or been taken. How should they ration food? Who should take priority? Was there still a social hierarchy?

Who was in charge? What were they doing? Where were they going? Who had done this? Would they save the citizens that were caught? Was the Light Realm trustworthy? Where was Prince Hollis? Why wasn't Virgil taking the throne and ruling? Was he sure that going to find the taken was really a good idea? Who was next in line to the throne if something happened? What was Virgil going to do to help them? What about when winter came?

It was so hard for Virgil to answer those questions. The others translated for him as best they could but never actually spoke for him. Virgil was worried he'd say the wrong thing or something would get lost in translation and there'd be a miscommunication. He worried he'd make the wrong decisions and that people would get mad at him. What if they didn't want him as their king? Sure, Virgil believed that they could get the others back but he also knew that he had to accept the reality that they might not save Janus...

In places where lots of people had been taken, the attacking army had portalled away. Like the capital near the palace. Logan and Roman said it was probably because they didn't want the larger groups to try something before they reached their destinations. Portals were really hard to make, it was another spell that was very hard to learn. Not even Janus knew how to make them and he was a really strong wizard, better than Logan even. The towns where the army hadn't portalled away reported that they were going in the right direction.

Currently, the others were eating. They had found a town that had been spared from the attacks, small towns with small populations had been left untouched, and decided to stop and eat lunch in one of the restaurants. They sat in a booth with Virgil next to Patton. He had become a little more used to them, though it was a little more of reluctant getting used to. Virgil would occasionally, rarely, give Logan and Roman high fives or fistbumps and Patton had been promoted to side hugs as long as they asked anyway. Virgil had to admit he still wasn't comfortable with it. He didn't like his own brother and best friend touching him, this was so odd. Still, the others seemed happy when Virgil gave them high-fives. As if they had been rewarded or something, he wasn't so sure how he felt about that.

The others were worried about Virgil. He hadn't been sleeping or eating much. He didn't sign to them very much and sometimes made mistakes when he did, which wasn't helping the language barrier. He was having trouble paying attention and was pushing himself really hard. Whenever he got a free chance he would push Logan to help him learn a spell, or he'd do it himself. If he wasn't practicing magic he was practicing swordsmanship, even asking Roman to spar with him. He was fidgety and jumpy and uneasy. They didn't know what was wrong with him but they wanted to help him.

"Ann," Patton said, placing a hand on Virgil's shoulders and making the younger jump as he looked over at them, "Are you alright kiddo?"

Virgil stared blankly at him for a moment before nodding and looking down at his food. "Are you sure? You seem kind of out of it," Roman added.

'I'm fine' Virgil signed.

Roman and Patton frowned and looked away as Logan continued to watch the younger boy with worry etched on his face.

Logan was worried about Virgil. He liked Virgil. Virgil let him call him Virgil even though he said he wanted to be called Ann, and that kind of made Logan feel sorta special. And Virgil was funny, he liked Logan's jokes whenever they didn't need to be explained. He had energy, still being a bit of a kid, but he was also real mature. He wanted to learn magic even if it was hard for him, and he had no problem explaining things about the Dark Realm that confused Logan. And he had some quick reflexes and he listened to people babble. Logan babbled a lot sometimes so he liked that. He had felt this before, but he wasn't sure if he knew what it meant. He had an idea, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to know the answer.

He hadn't known Virgil for long. It had only been a little over a week. Feelings like these, couldn't manifest themselves so quickly. Could they? Before he could ponder this a moment longer the sound of plates shattering made him look away. A waitress had dropped a tray of empty plates making her curse quietly as she went off to find a broom, apologizing to her father who owned the restaurant. Roman was about to say something before Virgil pushed away from the table and sprinted out the door, they all remained silent when they realized he had had tears in his eyes.

"I'll get him," Patton said after a moment, "Why don't you guys go get a couple of rooms at the inn? I think the rest of the day should just be a break." Roman and Logan nodded and watched Patton go after Virgil, worry filling them both.

It had been a few hours and neither Patton or Virgil had returned yet. Logan had been reading one of his own books, not one of the ones that belonged to Crown Prince Janus. Roman was sitting on the porch outside pulling at the strings of the instrument he had brought along, a ukulele. Logan didn't understand why someone would ever want to play such a small guitar but he didn't question it seeing as Roman seemed to enjoy it.

Logan sighed and closed his book as he got off the couch, "Roman," Logan began, interrupting the others quiet singing.

"What's up nerd?" Roman asked him.

"You've felt infatuation before, haven't you?"

Roman gave him an odd look, "Yeah, a few times." Roman said as he looked down at his ukulele and began tuning it, "But you have too though, remember? We both had a crush on that Julian Miller when we were thirteen."

Julian wasn't the only person they both had crushes on. There was also Alex Newbell, William Quarts, and Felix Nightingale. Their mothers thought it was funny, they were such close friends that they both liked the same guy every time. Roman and Logan had been friends since they were babies, even though they were different from each other they were really best friends. And, as best friend law states, that meant that they couldn't date each other's crushes or exes. It was just best friend law.

"Yes, I do remember." Logan said, "This time it feels different though"

"Alex Newbell different or Felix Nightingale different?" Roman asked as he changed the notes on the paper to the song he was writing was on.

Logan shifted slightly uncomfortably on his feet, "Virgil Black different," he told the other. Roman froze for a moment, his pencil pausing in the middle of drawing a rest.

"Oh," Roman said softly, "Oh... But he's Dark Realm."

"You yourself said that the people of the Dark Realm aren't all too different from those in the Light Realm. Besides, your brother is dating Crown Prince Janus" Logan argued.

"Yeah... you're right," Roman said, he sighed slightly and waved Logan over, gesturing for him to sit next to him, "So, you got a crush on a prince?"

Logan nodded his head, "Well, I'm not sure if it's a crush. Maybe it's just the feeling of friendship? Like how I feel with you and Patton"

Roman laughed, "But it feels nothing like that does it?" he asked. Logan shook his head, "Well, luckily for you you're best friend is a romantic and knows all about crushes and love and dates"

"You've only had one boyfriend"

"Hey, that's one more boyfriend than you've had, and it's not like I haven't had suitors or anything," Roman told him, "Now listen closely" Roman smiled as he strummed his ukulele.

"If you start singing I'm leaving," Logan told him flatly.

Roman frowned but put his ukulele to the side, "Why do you have to be so boring?" Logan didn't reply, just looked at him until Roman sighed, "What does he make you feel?"

Logan thought about that for a moment, "I'm not sure. When he smiles or laughs I want to smile or laugh. And I get this weird feeling in my chest. And when he touches me, my skin feels weird. I want to hear his voice but he doesn't want to speak and I want to protect that if that makes any sense at all. He has lots of energy like you and Patton, even after all he's gone through he still smiles and jokes with us. But he's mature and smart. And that thing he does with his face, where he bites at the end of his lip and narrows his eyes and eyebrows, it's adorable" Logan looked over at Roman with a smile.

Roman laughed at him lightly, "That's a crush alright," Roman said as he crossed his arms "Are you gonna tell him?"

Logan shook his head, "I don't think now would be an appropriate time, with everything that's happened to him..."

"I don't know, maybe. But you said he's mature,"

"Yes, I did. But he's also scared, isn't he? That's what he was feeling earlier, fear? I'm not good with feelings, you know this."

Roman frowned, "Yeah, you might be right, but that's okay. He has the right to be afraid, we all do. Besides, you can help him. If-if we can't get those people back... can't stop the villains who did this... he's gonna need someone there helping him. You can be like his knight in shiny glasses"

Logan laughed lightly but it came to a stop slowly, "What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"Then we handle it the adult way. Wait till he's asleep and then go get you food and candy and pretend it never happened"

"Very adult," Logan said sarcastically

"Glad you agree" Roman said with a wide grin as he picked up his ukulele.

Patton and Virgil had finally gotten back about an hour ago. Patton had come straight to the room Logan and Roman were staying in but Virgil didn't even come to say hello to them. He had told Patton he was tired and went to bed. Patton and Roman were playing a card game, Logan hadn't been too interested. For a while, he just watched while he read his book.

Now he stood in front of the room across the hall where Virgil and Patton were staying that night. He held his fist over the door, about to knock when he heard something coming from the other side that made him pause. An odd buzzing sound could be heard from the other side, Logan couldn't identify what it might be but it sounded like a beehive. He dismissed it as it being his imagination and knocked on the door.

There was the sound of the bedsprings squeaking and then several large bangs coming from the room. "Virgil," Logan said urgently, "It's Logan, can you answer the door?" There was no reply of course. No knock on the wall to show that Virgil had heard, no sound of footsteps or the door unlocking. The other side remained quiet, Logan remained there for a long moment before he heard the sound of sniffling. "Virgil, I'm coming in now." He didn't wait before he used a spell to unlock the door, similar to the one Virgil used when attempting his escape.

Logan found Virgil sitting in the dark with only the moonlight coming from the window to illuminate anything. He was sitting on the bed in the corner, his knees tucked into his chest as he rested his head on his legs and covered it with his arms. "Virgil are you alright?"

Virgil didn't look up, just pointed towards the door, Logan understood it meant he wanted to be alone but Logan didn't listen. "I wanted to talk to you about something, Roman says it might make you happy?" Logan continued, slowly stepping into the darkroom.

Virgil barely looked up as he grabbed the pillow off his bed and threw it at Logan, he missed but Logan still dodged away. Virgil hid his face in his arms again as Logan picked the pillow off the floor and placed it at the end of the bed. Right now was most definitely not the time to tell Virgil he liked him. "What's wrong Virgil?" Virgil didn't even move this time, "We've all been very worried about you, you're not acting like yourself"

For a moment Virgil continued to sit still, but then he raised his hands upward and signed to Logan and though it was difficult to see it in the dark he understood, 'You don't even know me'

"That's not true, I know you're stubborn and persistent. I know you're smart and brave, you're resourceful, you're a very good person Virgil"

Virgil waited for a moment, 'You don't know me'

"Virgil, what's wrong?"

There was a long pause. Logan was sure that he wasn't going to get an answer at all, that he was just annoying the person next to him. 'Anxiety is hitting real hard lately'

"I'm sorry to hear that... What is your anxiety like?" Logan asked

'It's like... it's different for everybody and can change depending on what's going on. Right now it's just like there's this voice constantly yelling at me that I'm going to fail.'

"Like your visions?"

Virgil shook his head, 'No, those are different. This voice is saying other things. That we're not gonna save them. That I'm going to make a bad king if we do fail. That it's my fault. Even that I can't trust you and that I made a mistake bringing you guys'

Logan didn't understand all of it. It was like reading or hearing broken English to him, his mind struggling to keep up with Virgil's hands, and what they had learned each sign meant. But he understood the brunt of it, "That's not true. It's not your fault and you'll make a fine king if it comes to it."

'Liar'

"No..." Logan said with a shake of his head, "What else is bothering you?"

'I miss my brother' Virgil signed to him 'I miss my brother and my dad and Remy and Remus. I love them all so much. I don't think I can live without them'

Logan nodded as Virgil's hands stopped moving, "It's okay to miss the dead, and for you to miss your missing brother and friends. It's natural to feel saddened by it... In the Light Realm, when someone passes we light candles and lanterns. Special ones just for funerals. We hold our funerals at night, and when they have been buried or cremated or however they have asked to be sent off we release floating lanterns into the sky."

Virgil was looking up at him now, wiping away at his tears as he sniffled 'We wear masks. Black ones that cover the whole face. Unless they were evil or bad, then we have red somewhere on them. Normally on the cheeks or eyes. We wear them for a full week and on the last night, we place the masks in water. We aren't supposed to wear them if lots of people at once die, then it's disrespectful but I still kind of wanna wear one for my dad'

"You lost your mother, didn't you Virgil? When you were younger?"

Virgil nodded, 'Assassination, Janus and I got away' Virgil told him, Logan nodded his head, 'Have you lost anybody?'

Again, Logan nodded, "I lost my father when I was thirteen and my older brother two years later. My mother was devastated, she never truly recovered. My uncle had to move into our house to help us."

'How did you feel?'

"I'm going, to be honest, I don't remember much of my father's death. My uncle told me I had seemed to float through it as if I had fallen asleep the night before it happened and didn't wake up again for a while afterward... I was angry after my brother's death, angry at him for leaving my mother and me like he did. Now though, it's just another part of my life that I went through."

'I was so scared when my mom died. It was nothing like when my grandfather passed, I thought it'd be similar for some reason'

"May I ask, what were the masks like then?"

Virgil paused for a long time, Logan was sure he had crossed a line. That Virgil was going to send him away again, 'Lots of people had red on theirs for my grandfather, I was so young then that I didn't know why. Janus had to explain it to me, he was always smarter... Not very many people wore red for my mother. Some did but she was a queen and there's always going to be someone who thinks the leaders are evil or bad. But I guess some people only did it cause she had magic'

"I understand that in the Light Realm more than half the populous think that people with magic are evil"

'I know, we get a lot of your refugees'

"Oh," Logan said, slightly embarrassed even though he had very little power to change that. Maybe soon he would, when Roman became king and he had Logan on his council, they could discuss that. "Magic is more accepted here?"

'From what I've heard from Remus, everything is more accepted here'

"That's good to know, we will need those more accepting beliefs in the Light Realm. When our Kingdoms start working together more, I'm sure the King and Queen will want to hear you"

Virgil smiled at Logan 'I was practicing magic before you came in' He signed to him, 'Can you help? I'm not getting it.'

"Of course, I'd be happy to"

'Thanks'