Chapter Text
The three had trekked into the forest in the hopes of being in awe of what it had to offer. It was beautiful no doubt, but easy to get lost. Many had often never come out of it. If you ever wanted to ‘get lost’ in the forest then it would be safe to bring someone with exceptional magical talent- a sorcerer. And so they grabbed their friend Virgil, and begged him to take them into the enchanted forest. As long as he was with them then they would be fine...theoretically. Virgil had doubted someone of his amateur skills would be able to successfully guide them through the forest, but to his surprise it was almost like second nature for him.
He knew where to go and what to avoid as if the directions were subconsciously being whispered in his ear. The way the light shined through the trees and the atmosphere made them feel like they were the only ones in the world and yet not alone. Somehow the outside world hadn’t touched this place. The air tasted sweet to them. It looked brighter in here than it did out there. Almost enough to argue that the people who got lost here never wanted to leave in the first place. The moss felt soft enough to lay in, which Logan had done and found it to be surprisingly comfortable. When walking they felt like they were floating. It was the most serene and calm place they had ever been. Sometimes they’d spot what they’d believe to be fae folk. They kept their distance to be cautious, though when they had stopped in an opening surrounded by weeping willows one had come right up to Patton and gave him a kiss on the forehead. He stayed still until they were far from him and then hopped around like a kid finding out they’re getting a puppy. “I was blessed by a fairy!”
Virgil was amazed by everything that he saw but the wave of bliss faded suddenly. A faint ‘watch out’ was heard. He was so taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere that he stumbled backward. He gasped when he felt nothing below his feet. He felt his heart dropped with him as his friends watched him fall off the end of an unseen cliff and down a hill. Both Patton and Logan shouted after him as he tumbled down. He couldn’t get a hold of anything to slow him down. He fell off another small edge and he made an abrupt stop when his head hit a rock.
He slowly woke up to his friends making it down the hill and once more to them sitting over him with their desperate pleas for him to wake up. He could make out some things every now and then.
“He’s lost consciousness, that's not good.” he heard from who he assumed to be Logan.
He did thankfully wake up and they both sighed in relief. “Are you alright?” Logan asked. Virgil groaned as tried to sit up.
“Yeah, a rock broke my fall.” He said as he rubbed the back of his head but then pulled his hand away quickly when he felt a sharp pain. When he looked at his hand his fingers were covered in blood. “And probably my skull.” Logan quickly pulled out the first aid tools he had brought with him in his satchel in case anything like this happened. He moved closer and pulled virgil to him to address the wound.
Patton covered his face “Oh my god, I'm so sorry.”
Virgil gave him a confused stare. “Why are you apologizing?” He asked.
“Because if I hadn’t bugged you so much about bringing us here then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” Virgil rolled his eyes and half smiled at him. “Pat, it’s not your fault. I’m happy I came here actually. It’s been nice. Besides, if you really wanna blame anybody try blaming the rock for being in the way.”
Patton chuckled and then looked to the said rock in question. His eyebrows furrowed for a minute and then he stood up. He walked around it and paused. “Woah.” he said in awe.
“What is it?” Logan asked as he bandaged Virgil's head.
Patton knelt down in front of it. “It’s a statue.”
~
Logan wanted to leave to bring Virgil to get proper medical attention but recognized that it wasn’t wise to have Virgil moving a lot in the first place. He was also their only way out of there and that would do them no good, so they decided to rest. After Logan made sure that Virgil would be okay, they all had stopped to observe the statue to pass the time. Very fine craftsmanship and attention to detail. When they got past admiring it they had begun to wonder what it was doing there in the first place. “Maybe it was a centerpiece to a garden.” Patton suggested.
“I doubt it. This area shows no evidence of that. And even then, why such a sad one?” The statue was one of two men, both adorning faces full of sorrow. One on his knees cradling the other in his arms. The other clutching his stomach and looking up to the other in pain. The uniforms they had looked formal. Perhaps they were soldiers. They both looked like they had been through hell and back. Fought and lost.
While they had all been theorizing about the statue, Virgil had been studying it in a different way. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something about it made him feel off. It could just be because of his concussion but he was sure it wasn’t. It was like one of those feelings he got about something like telling Pat that he shouldn't buy that quilt from the market, to later find out it was riddled with bed bugs. Or when he had asked Ms Jenkins to avoid going out tonight and to just stay in. Mr. Roberts had gotten mugged that same night and if it weren't for how fast he was, he might not have gotten away from the guy unharmed. It was a gut feeling he couldn’t ignore and it wouldn’t go away until he did something about it. He had stood up (against Logan's instructions) and walked closer to the statue to see if the fuzzy feeling got any clearer. Completely ignoring Logan's badgering about his health and Patton trying to calm him down.
Virgil studied their faces and rested his hand on it. A shock went through his arm and a flash of emotions overcame him causing him to fall back. “I had told you it wasn’t wise to start moving so quickly. You’ve already started to have dizzy spells.” Logan said getting ready to pull Virgil back to where he was before.
“Logan, wait.” Patton said, gesturing to Virgil's face. They both knew that look and had seen it enough times to know that whatever it was, they should let him continue.
He had moved toward it slowly this time- listening to logan- and breathed. He placed his hand on it again and concentrated. The silence had been getting to Logan and Patton and they grew more concerned for their friend. Virgil took his hand away and they anxiously awaited for whatever it was that he was going to say. “Well? What is it?” Logan asked.
“Is it cursed or something?” Patton chimed in. He muttered something but they couldn't hear him. He repeated himself.
“They are.” Puzzled, Logan furrowed his eyebrows.
“‘They?’”
Virgil turned his focus to his friends and continued. “They’re people.” He said. “And they’re alive.”