-with Deceit-

Deceit was hiding behind a rock, peering over the edge as he waited for Virgil and those other three to appear. The little man had told him that this is were the tunnel let out, so it was all a matter of time before those four came out, and Deceit would be ready for them.

His snakes hissed and coiled around his ankles in excitement, ready for a little fun after having been kept cooped up for so many years.

Deceit peered around the edge of the rock as he began to hear grunting and banging, and watched as two large buff men burst out from the trap door in the large hollow tree.

Deceit quickly ducked back behind the rock, and shushed his snakes before turning his head back to listen.

"I'll kill them," one of them said as he coughed up a large amount of water."I'll kill those three stupid teens if it's the last thing I do."

Deceits eyes flashed. Three stupid teens....it couldn't be, could it?

The two of them grumbled a bit more before beginning to march off, and Deceit knew he needed to act before they got to far away.

He sprinted quietly and climbed on top of a rock so he could be more intimidating to the two bellow, and let out a sharp whistle to get their attention.

"Oh boys," he called, smirking as he watched them whirl around.

"Why don't you not stop chasing your tails like wild dogs," he said as he moved to take the bag off of his shoulder,"and think for a moment." He said as he held the bag out towards them.

He watched as their eyes locked onto the bag, and laughed softly as they both pulled out their swords and got into a fighting stance.

"Oh please," he said,"there's no need for that." He added as he tossed the bag to them, which they quickly caught, opening it up even faster.

They both smirked as they stared at the crown in their hands.

"Well, if that not all you desire than be on your way," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand before turning to look at his nails with a bored expression."I was going to offer you something worth a thousand crowns, would have made you rich behind belief, and that isn't even the best part." He said with a laugh as he looked back down at the two.

The two thugs stopped and glanced at each other before looking up at Deceit.
"What's the best part?" One of them asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't involve revenge on these three." Deceit said with a smirk as he held up the wanted poster for the three teens.

He watched as the two thugs smirked maliciously, taking that as a yes.

Perfect. He thought to himself. Now I can get flower back forever and get rid of all who knew him with one stone.

-With the other four-

Virgil didn't explain anything after that, saying that he would after they'd at least attempted to dry off and set up somewhere they could sleep since the sun was setting and it would be dark soon.

The other three reluctantly agree, and all four of them set to work. They found a nice little group of trees they could camp around, and cleared away the ground sonitd be a bit more comfortable.

They gathered firewood and made a semi-sturdy ring of rocks as a makeshift fire pit. Then they set out on the task of trying to dry off, since their soaked clothes were not helping them to stay warm as the sun set behind the trees and it began to get colder and darker.

All of the food they had brought had either been lost or ruined by the flood they'd just been in, so Patton and Virgil had volunteered to get some food while Logan and Roman did their best to start the fire.

"So," Patton began after a few minutes."see anything we can eat? Like berries or nuts or something?" He asked.

Virgil shrugged and shook his head no."Not really, it's getting a little too dark to see anything clearly." He said."we should probably just go back, I don't want to accidentally bring back something poisonous or something." He added, not looking at him.

"Alright," Patton said."we can just find something for breakfast in the morning then." He said with a smile.

Virgil nodded."Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He said.

Patton was burning with questions about his hair -like why it glowed, what did he mean by it doing more, and how long had it been doing that- but didn't want to scare Virgil off by overwhelming him all of a sudden with a wave of questions, so he bit his tongue and decided to wait until either a good time came up, or Virgil told them himself.

The two of them walked back to camp, which they were only able to find since the other two had managed to start up a small fire.

"Did you guys find anything?" Roman asked.

"No, sorry" Patton said."but I'm sure we'll find some stuff tomorrow morning for breakfast."

Logan and Roman nodded, agreeing with the plan before adding a few more twigs to the fire.

Patton and Virgil each sat down just like the two of them were, and stared at the fire, none of them addressing the elephant in the room.

Virgil glanced up at Logan and Roman who were across from them. Logan looked fine, not to bruised and battered, but Roman had the beginning colors of a black eye with a bit of swelling around his cheekbone and under-eye, along with a few more scrapes and bruises here and there, mostly on his hands from when they'd been digging out, Logan and Patton had those as well.

"So," Virgil began, gaining the attention of the other three in less than a second. "I'm sure you guys want to know more about...my hair..." he said as he glanced around at them before back at the fire.

"Only if you're okay with talking about it." Patton said."you don't need to force yourself." He assured, Logan and Roman nodding in agreement.

"No it's fine." He said."I-it, um, it's might be easier to show you rather than explain..." he said, hesitating a few seconds before standing up.

He walked around the fire, the other three watching him curiously as he sat with his back to Roman.

"What are you doing?" Said brunet asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Just...just touch my hair..." Virgil said."just touch it and don't let go until I tell you to." He added, looking down at his lap nervously, his cheeks red.

Roman hesitated a few seconds, glancing over at Logan and Patton before carefully carding his fingers through Virgil's hair, which was surprisingly soft and smooth, settling them against his scalp.

He felt Virgil shift, and seem to relax, but Roman couldn't be sure.

Virgil closed his eyes and took a small deep breath before beginning to sing softly, acting almost shy about it.

"Flower, gleam and glow" the three watched as the roots of his hair began to glow, before the light began to steadily creep down the strands of hair.

"Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine,"

Roman couldn't see it, but Patton and Logan stared in awe as the large bruise on Romans face began to fade, and the swelling went down.

"Heal what has been hurt
Change the Fates' design
Save what has been lost" Virgil slowly opened his eyes, staring down at his lap as he sang the last few words.

"Bring back what once was mine
What once was mine" he finished the song, and the glow from his hair began to slowly fade away, leaving them to sit in shock with only the light from their small fire.

"Wow..." Patton breathed softly as he looked between Roman and Virgil.

"What is it?" Roman asked as he looked over at the other two in confusion.

"It appears as if your injuries have been healed," Logan said as he looked Roman up and down."how are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm feeling great, I don't feel sore or anything." He said.

"An- Virgil, how did you do that?" Patton asked as he looked at the dark haired teen.

Virgil shrugged."I don't know," he said."it's always been like this, for as long as I can remember." He said.

"My father said that when I was a baby, people tried to cut it, that they wanted to take it for themselves," he said as he began to pull his hair back."but, once it's cut, it turns dark brown and loses its powers." He said, showing the short lock of hair that was a dark brown at the nape of his neck.

"But your hair is already dark, how do you know it doesn't just stop?" Roman asked.

"I was originally blonde," Virgil said with a small smile."my hair was bright sunny yellow, and it grew at an alarmingly fast rate, so father got a potion. it stopped my hair growth, but also turned it black." He said."I was sick around that time so I don't really remember any of it though, I know it happened around my birthday." He added with a shrug.

"Father said that a gift like this," he said, gesturing to his head."needs to be protected, needs to be kept away from all the greedy people of the world who would do anything to get it." He said."That's why I....why I never..."

"Why you never left that tower?" Roman asked softly.

Virgil nodded a little."Yeah," he said."Father would always remind me to never go out or bad people would snatch me up and only use me." He explained."But, here I am," he said."sitting under a tree, who knows how far from my tower, with three really nice so call criminals." He said with a small laugh."not even child me could have dreamed of ever doing this." He said."I'll need to keep all of this a secret when I go back." He added.

"You're going back?" Patton asked with a small frown.

"Well, yeah." Virgil said with a shrug,"its home, and it's not like I have anywhere else to go." He said."And I couldn't do that to my father." He added.

"But you'll be unhappy," Patton said."you'll be all cooped up again in your tiny little tower, will you ever be able to go outside again?" He asked.

"Probably not," Virgil said with a sad smile."but, this'll be the best birthday present I'll ever get, so it won't be to horrible when I go back." He said."maybe I'll sneak out again, but I don't think I will." He said.

"But it's not healthy," Patton said."you'll get like sun-sick or something." He said.

"The proper term would be a vitamin D deficiency," Logan said."But Patton's right, not going out in the sun on a regular basis can cause your immune system to lower, it can -in more serious cases- impair your vision, it can lead to forms of clinical depression, amongst other things." He said."And even if you can sit on your window for sunlight, it's not quiet the same as going outside would be." He added.

Virgil bit his lip."still," he began."even if I wanted to go back outside, Father would never let me."

"Not even to just the little clearing around your tower?" Roman asked.

Virgil shook his head."I asked when I was seven or something," he said."father said that there are snakes and poisonous plants that can hurt me, so I'm not allowed to go down there." He said.

"There are poisonous things everywhere," Roman countered."a poisonous spider could get into your tower and bite you more easily then it is that you'll find a poisonous snake right outside your tower." He said.

"That's not entirely true," Logan said."But I have to agree, there are plenty of dangerous things that you simply just can't be kept away from."

He chewed on his lip a bit more."Well, I don't really have a say in the matter." He said."I can't change father's mind and that the end of it." He said with a shrug.

"How far are we from the kingdom?" He asked, wanting to change the subject.

The other three stared at him for a few seconds, not sure if they should just let this go or not, but eventually gave in, not wanting to pressure him or anything.

"It should be less than half a days walk," Logan said as he looked at the fire."we should get there around 8:00am or 9:00 am tomorrow morning depending on when we start walking." He explained.

Virgil nodded but didn't say anything, also staring at the flames as they slowly grew smaller.

"I'm gunna go get some more firewood," Roman said."wanna come along specs?" He asked.

Logan nodded, and stood up.

"We'll be back soon," he said."stay by the fire and add the last few sticks we gather earlier if you need to." He said, before walking off into the woods with Roman quickly fading from view as they left their small circle of light.

Patton and Virgil sat in a semi-comfortable silence for a while, before Virgil spoke up.

"I can, um, I can heal your bruises if you want..." he said awkwardly.

"Oh, no it's okay." Patton said,"but, I was wondering if perhaps I could...play with your hair?" He asked.

"Play with it?" Virgil parroted, not sure what he meant.

"Yeah," Patton said."you seem to, I don't know, relax when Roman had moved his hand through your hair." He said."I don't have to if you don't want me to though." He quickly added.

Virgil smiled softly."no it's fine," he said."I wouldn't mind if you...played with my hair." He said.

Patton smiled at him."Okay!" He said happily as he stood up."come sit over here," he said as he moved to sit so that his back was pressed to a tree trunk, moving his legs apart so that there was room for Virgil to sit in between them. He gently patted the ground between his legs to show what exactly he wanted.

Virgil blushed a tiny bit, but nodded as he stood up."Okay," he said as he walked over and awkwardly sat with his back to Patton, folding his hands in his lap nervously.

"You can lean back against me if you ever want to." Patton said, before gently carding his fingers through Virgil's hair at the nape of his neck, slowly moving his hand up and along his scalp.

Virgil sighed softly in content the moment Patton's fingers began to move through his hair. He closed his eyes as he hummed in response to Patton's statement.

Patton smiled at the reaction, and brought his other hand up to begin gently massaging against his scalp, feeling the teen relax under his touches.

Virgil began to subconsciously lean back against Patton until he back was pressed against the other males chest as he was fully relaxed and content, letting Patton curl and run his fingers through his hair.

They sat there for several minutes in silence, and Virgil even began to fall asleep, completely relaxed, but Patton, despite loving seeing the other teen this way, needed to get up to check on Logan and Roman.

"Virgil," Patton said softly as he stopped moving his fingers through the teens extremely soft and smooth hair.

"Mhm?" Virgil hummed sleepily, shifting slightly against Patton's chest.

"I'm really sorry, but I'm going to need you to get up." He said reluctantly.

He instantly regretted it as Virgil snapped his eyes open and quickly jerked away from Patton, scrambling a way a foot or so.

"Sorry," He said."I was probably making you uncomfortable or something, I didn't mean to lay on you, I'm really sorry." He began to ramble, his relaxed posture gone and replaced with a much more stiff and nervous one.

"No no, it's okay," Patton said."I didn't mind it at all, I just need to go check on Roman and Logan, they e been gone for a while." He said softly.

"O-oh..." Virgil said, his cheeks red from embarrassment as he looked down at his lap.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Patton said,"add more wood to the fire if you need to." He added as he stood up.

Virgil nodded."Okay..." he said.

Patton gave him a small smile before waving and walking off in the direction Roman and Logan had gone, mentally scolding himself for ruining the calm moment.

Virgil sighed softly and shivered a little as he watched Patton leave, missing the other teens warmth and his gentle touches. Father had brushed his hair and messed with his hair before, but it felt different with Patton, he couldn't quiet wrap his head around the feeling.

"Well, I thought they would leave." A very familiar voice said from behind Virgil.
The teen whirled around and stared wide eyes at his father.

"Father?" He said softly in surprise as he stood up.

"Hello dear," His father said as he walked forward and wrapped him in a brief hug before letting go.

"I-I don't, I don't...how did you find me?" Virgil asked as he stared at him in awe and confusion.

"Oh it wasn't easy," his father said."all I did was not listen for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and follow that." He said with a sickeningly sweet and horribly fake voice.

"Father...."

"We're not going home, Virgil, now." He said as he took Virgil's wrist and began to pull him away.

"Father...Father wait, you don't understand." He said as he resisted against his pulling."I-I've had the most incredible journey, and-and I've seen and learned s-so much," he continued,"I...I even met some people." He added quietly.

"Oh yes, those wanted thieves, I'm not so proud." His father said, voice dripping with sarcasm."Come on Virgil." He added as he began to try and pull him again.

"F-Father, wait..." Virgil said as he pulled his hand away and out of his father's hold."I....I think they like me..." he said quietly, maybe even a little sheepish.

"Like you? Oh please Virgil that's simple not demented." His father said.

"B-but Father, I-"

"This is why you should have left." His father said."dear this whole romance you haven't invented just proves you're not to naive to be here." He said as he cupped Virgil's face in his hands.

"Why wouldn't they like you, come on now really." He said as he moved his hands away and gestured to all of Virgil."Look at you, you think they're not impressed?"

"Do be a dummy, don't come with me, Father..."

"No" Virgil said, working up the courage to say not to his father, despite immediately regretting it.

"No?"His father said as he looked at him with a brow raised."oh, I don't see how it is." He said as he took a few steps forward towards him, his expression turning serious.

"Virgil doesn't know best
Virgil's not so mature now
Such a clever grown-up boy" he sang as he circled around Virgil, patting his head at the last few words.

"Virgil doesn't know best
Fine, if you're not so sure now
Go ahead, don't give them this!" He sang loudly before whipping out the satchel he'd found under the stairs, showing it to Virgil.

"How did you-"

"This isn't why they're here!" He continued singing, pulling out the crown and shoving it in Virgil's face, making hims stumble back a few steps.

"Go let them deceive you!
Don't give it to them, watch, you won't see!" He sang as he shoved the bag and crown into Virgil's arms.

"I will." Virgil said, a bit more confident.
"Don't trust me, my dear" he sang, before making a short sharp snap with his fingers.

"That's not how fast they'll leave you
I will say I told you so" he sang before taking a few steps back.

"No, Virgil doesn't know best!
So if they're not a bunch of dreamboats
Go and not put them to the test!" He continued as he slowly walked back into the woods.

"Father, wait!"
"If they're not lying
Do come crying" his father turned and looked at him with an angry expression.

"Father doesn't know best." He finished, before marching off into the darkness with an elegant wave of his cloak, disappearing from sight within seconds.

Virgil stood there in shock for a few seconds before looking down at the bag and crown in his hands.

He then got a determined look on his face, and turned back to camp, grabbing his bag as he moved to sit down by the still dwindling fire.

His bag had been emptied so he everything in it was basically ruined, so he stuffed the grown and everything else from inside Roman, Logan, and Patton's satchel inside his own bag.
He would have left all their stuff inside their own bag, but he didn't know how he could sneak their beg around while he traveled with them, so this would have to do for now.

He had just added the last few sticks to the fire when he began to hear familiar voices.

He looked up and smiled in relief as he watched Roman, Logan, and Patton come back, the two former teens carrying small bundles of firewood.

The three looked slightly disheveled, their hair and clothes a bit messy, but Virgil don't comment on it, brushing the detail off.

"I see you found some fire wood." Virgil said.

"Yes we did," Roman said as he set his bundle down."and good thing to, the fire is almost out." He said as he began to add a few sticks to the fire, trying to coax it into being a bit larger.

Logan also set his bundle down before helping Roman to coax the fire, wanting to warm up since his -and everyone else's- clothes were still damp.

Patton sat down next to Virgil and smiled at him."was everything okay while we were gone?" He asked.

Virgil thought for a second before nodding."Yeah," he said."nothing really happen."

"Good," He said."I was a little worried about leaving you all alone." He admitted with a shy smile.

Virgil blushed slightly before smiling back."Everything was fine." He said as he looked down at his lap shyly.

The four of them began to chat quietly for a while, slowly adding to the fire as necessary.

It grew darker and darker, and the four of them grew more and more tired as the night wore on.

Patton had eventually begun to play with Virgil's hair again, having shifted so that they were sitting in the same position as earlier, with Patton leaning against a tree with Virgil between his legs, and inevitably leaning against him like he had done earlier.

Virgil, although he was a bit embarrassed, soon fell asleep against Patton's chest, the calm soothing feeling of Patton's hands, the other teens warmth, the crackling of the fire, and the murmur of Roman and Logan's soft voices lulling him off to sleep.

The three other teens eventually noticed Virgil's sleeping state, and quieted down slightly, not wanting to wake up the sleeping teen.

They finally decided to go to bed themselves roughly half an hour later, but then came a problem.

"I don't want to wake him up..." Patton said as he looked down at the sleeping Virgil.
The teen had ended up turning slightly and snuggling closer to Patton as he slept, most likely in search of the other males warmth if the slight shivers the dark haired teens body made were any indicator.

The problem was that while Patton was comfortable with sitting and leaning against the tree, he didn't really want to sleep there, but he also didn't want a repeat of earlier, so he didn't want to wake Virgil up.

"I can pick him up and then pass him back to you once you've moved and gotten comfortable."Roman suggested."He can't be too heavy, seeing how skinny he is." He added.

Patton hesitated for a few seconds, before slowly nodding."Alright, just be careful not to wake him up." Patron said as he pulled his arms and hands away from Virgil, allowing Roman to gently pick him up.

The other male carefully hooked his arms under Virgil's knees and around his back near his shoulder blades. He then carefully lifted the sleeping teen up and off of Patton, cradling him in his arms bridal style.

Virgil shifted and hummed softly, making all three of them freeze as they watched him, hoping he stayed asleep.

Virgil curled closer to Roman with another soft hum, pressing his face against his shoulder and neck before settling, making Roman blush quiet a bit, although it was difficult to see in the dim firelight.

Patton smiled and cooed softly at the sight of the sleeping teen before getting up and moving over to a semi-comfortable looking spot to sleep, not too close to the fire, but not too far away from it either.

He looked over at Roman and Virgil, before holding his arms out from where he was laying."I can take him back now." He said with a smile.

Roman nodded, and carefully stood up, holding still for a few seconds as Virgil shifted in his hold, before moving over to Patton and carefully laying the skinny boy down next to him, smiling as Patton almost immediately wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer, tucking Virgil's head under his chin.

Logan, who had been putting the fire out and cleaning up camp, eventually came over and sat down on the other side of Patton.

"We should go to sleep now if we wish to wake up at an early hour tomorrow that will allow the four of us to make good time in reaching the kingdom." He said as he took his glasses off, along with taking Patton's off for him, before setting them onto a log a foot or two away from them.

Roman nodded."good plan specs," he said, sitting down next to Virgil's sleeping form.

"Logan and I'll find some breakfast in the morning," he said as he shifted to lay down."you just stay here with sleeping beauty, kay Pat?"

Patton nodded slightly, not able to do a full nod with Virgil's head tucked under his chin.

"Okay Ro," He said with a smile before snuggling closer to Virgil.

He could feel Logan move and lay down next to him, and smiled contently.

He then looked back and watched as Roman cuddled up against Virgil, not wrapping his arms around him like Patton was, but still pretty close to the pale boy in Patton's arms.

Patton closed his eyes and hummed softly."g'night Ro, g'night Lo." He said softly.

"Night pat, night specs," Roman said with a smile as he also closed his eyes.

Logan huffed softly at the nickname, but wished them goodnight anyways."goodnight Patton, Goodnight Roman." He said as he also closed his eyes, subconsciously shifting closer to Patton.

"Goodnight Virgil."