The shadows of the iron bars quivered on Fearian's body and the cell he was in, cast by the orange light of the lanterns hanging from the walls. His room was dark because of the night sky outside his small window. 

Fearian was sitting in the corner biting his lip and preventing his tears from coming again, he was now upset by his actions and the fact that his family will be in danger somehow. His grunts were loud enough that they echoed throughout the hallways of the dungeon, along with his fist punching the hard floor with all his might until his knuckles bled.

"It's not good if you keep punching." Someone approached his cell. Fearian lifted his head to see who it was. 

"And who asked for your opinion?" Fearian asked through his gritted teeth as the guard stopped in front of the bars. 

"What's wrong with a guard trying to be helpful?" He knelt as he placed the tray on the floor and readied his keys. "Err... You won't try to get out, are you?" He asked as he looked at him. 

Fearian just turned away and remained on the floor. 

"I guess that's a yes," the guard said as he stood and inserted the key into the gate. 

Once the lock clicked, he opened it slowly and cautiously pushed the tray inside. "Enjoy your meal," he said as he turned the key again and stood aside to watch while Fearian remained on the floor. 

The moment of silence passed by, and questioning the silence, the guard turned his head around to look at him again, still in the same position, and the food was still away from him. 

"You know that you gotta eat before it gets cold," he told him. 

Fearian's reply was a long silence until he finally spoke in a murmur. 

"What's the point?" His tone was filled with defeat. 

"Hey, don't let that bring you down, there is always another opportunity to fix your mistakes," the guard spoke in empathy. 

"And why do you care? Why aren't you mad at me like the other men?" Fearian's voice turned from sadness to upsetting. 

"Well, I'll give you a piece of mind, I don't think the men 'need' to be mad at you for doing wrong things. Unless they're tired of your actions and then decided to get mad at you, they have a good reason for that... They don't hate you... " The guard started the conversation.

"You call the men who shouted that I deserved to be kicked out 'don't hate me'?! Wow, I can see that!" Fearian cried.

"I didn't mention that 'some' men do hate you without thinking about your history, but I do know that most men don't hate you... Even when they're angry... Do you know why?" He asked him. 

Fearian sat silent for a minute. "Why?"

"Because the men who didn't shout at you to leave actually care about you, to some you're like a naughty son or a brother to them, and King Salvador is like everyone's father... What I meant to say is that," he sighed before he continued.

"We as Meanians take care of each other, and we should never hate each other... Unless they're too blind to see your circumstances and background, or they haven't been taught to forgive," the guard explained as he gave Fearian a sympathetic look. 

"And what do you say about my dad who told me to leave?" Fearian's voice darkened as tears finally managed to escape his eyes. 

Even though the guard was wearing his round iron helmet that almost concealed his eyes, Fearian could glimpse his brows narrowing sadly at him. 

"To be honest... I don't think your father is up to the job of fathering, and you're not to blame... It's not your fault," he told him. 

"But look, you're not going to be out for long, and everyone who works in this palace knows that you're going to be brought back somehow. You have to be patient and stick to the plan," the guard said as he returned to his position. 

Fearian didn't do anything else but go to his solid bed hanging from the wall and laid down, and he began to break the silence with his loud, heart-breaking sobs and moans. All while the guard stood there and listened to his weeping all night.

~~~

"Of course... You don't belong here and you deserve it." 

"Why do you have to be this way?!"

"Get out and never come back!"

"Treacherous criminal!" 

"Leave you irresponsible father!" 

Fearian shut his eyes as tightly as possible when they kept shouting. He was surrounded by a silver mist with dark vivid figures in a bright void. He even covered his ears yet their voices got louder and louder, almost caused his ears to bleed. 

He did not only hear their yells, but he also heard his own heart crack and shatter like glass. He couldn't handle the harshness and cruelty thrown at him until suddenly everything stopped, leaving him in complete darkness and finally letting him gasp for a breath. 

He opened his eyes slowly to discover that he was left alone, only to realise that at the same time, he felt that he needed company... A supportive company. 

"Poor Fearian, thrown into the dungeons for one more mistake, how sad." 

Fearian jumped when he heard a clear voice in the black void he was in. 

"Who's there?! Where are you?!" Fearian looked around in surprise, searching for the source of the voice. 

"You really don't recognise the man who couldn't control his form? That's strange, I thought Meanians have very strong memories." 

Fearian could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke the last word. 

"What are you talking about?!" Fearian cried. 

"Oh don't pretend that you forgot what happened in the forest, you and the little boys." The voice giggled. 

Fearian tried to process what the voice meant, but that let him get even more confused. "I still don't get what you're talking about!" 

"What about the whispers you heard? Don't you recognise them either?" The voice giggled again as Fearian began to understand.

"Wait... That was you?!"

"Now you're getting it? I'm impressed that you were the only one who heard my threats and knew that danger was coming,"  the voice explained as Fearian's eyes widened by the discovery.

"But oh! I'm afraid that you won't be able to save your family, I wonder why... Oh I see! You're in the dungeon and no one believed your warnings!" The voice started to let out maniacal laughter that echoed throughout the void. 

"Show yourself! Now!" Fearian yelled as he kept looking around and spinning. 

"Here I am, as you asked." 

Fearian jumped again when the voice came from behind, so he quickly turned around to see the man finally.

He was tall as Fearian and a little slender, yet his body showed little bulkiness beneath his clothes. 

But he wasn't like the other coloured Meanians. 

He rather had a shadow grey-furred skin and raven black hair that reached his shoulders. He wore simplistic garments that any other Meanian wore, but his were darker coloured as well, a dark chocolate jacket unbuttoned and worn over his long crimson shirt that went to his thighs. Midnight blue pants puffed a little above his charcoal leather boots. 

Fearian didn't take off his gaze when he noticed that the young man's eyes were as bright as rubies. A duplicate of Fearian's eyes. 

"A Dark Meanian... " Fearian whispered in shock when he met a real Dark Meanian, and he couldn't believe that one of these kins was standing right in front of him. Close enough that he might grab his hand suddenly and do harm. 

"Why the shock and surprise?" The Dark Meanian laughed at Fearian's reaction. 

"B-But how did you come here?! Where even am I?!" Fearian took a few steps back.

"A dream where you never dream but communicate with other people, and this practice needs such power to work,"  he answered as he circled him like a predator. 

"Who are you and why do you want to hurt my family?!" Fearian cried as he kept his eyes on him while he moved around. 

"I'm here to seek vengeance on your father, for he committed something that he shouldn't have committed, ending in regret and fear. And I want him to suffer before his hour comes, that's how it makes me feel better, and it becomes... Entertaining for me," the man's grin was dreadful enough, it already gave Fearian the idea of murder and death.

"But let me tell you the truth, I'm not here to get revenge. In fact, this is my personal goal. However, I've actually been sent on a quest to find you and retrieve you. His wish is my command," he added as his eyes rolled. 

"You're not making any sense so what the hell are you talking about?!" Fearian clenched his fists harder. 

The man only giggled for a moment until he spoke again. 

"I'll repeat this, I actually have two things to do. One is that I take you away from your home since that's everybody's wish, and two, once I'm done with your 'retrieval' I can finally make my dream come true of torturing your father and murder him in the end!" This time the man made a burst of maniacal laughter after he gave his explanation.

"Retrieve me?! Why do you have to take me away?! You're not going to get away with this!" Fearian growled at him. But the man kept laughing. 

"Oh, and what are you going to do?" He finally stopped laughing.

"I'll find out where you are and tell the men so they could stop you and your actions! Even if I'm still in the dungeon! Besides you're going to be outnumbered... Unless... " Fearian trailed off as he started to have second thoughts.

The man then laughed again at Fearian's plan, to the point that his tears of laughter escaped his eyes until he widened his bright red eyes and flashed an evil stare at him. 

"Do you really think that Dark Meanians can commit evil acts on their own?! My my you really made me laugh! There's no such thing as Dark Meanians who try to take down the kingdom slowly on their own! We as a leaderless army would only wander the lands like homeless criminals, unless there is a king who still gives out his orders." His eyes began to glow even brighter red, and his voice suddenly deepened when he spoke the last sentence.