FSE

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Sometimes, Zèon remembered those afternoons he had spent with his Alchemy teacher, long ago, in one of the towers of his palace. It snowed gently outside and the blue eyes of the little arctic fox easily got lost in the pictures that the snowflakes drew in the grey sky. Meanwhile, his master was writing down some incomprehensible formula on the blackboard, before turning to him. The old fox used to stroke his beard with a paw as he gave him a thoughtful glance and then recited those words that the young kit remembered as clearly as if they were a mantra.

-You'll see, *********; the problem of the world is that it's constantly changing -he used to explain, with that worn voice that seemed like the rustling of the paper of an old scroll -. You can't trust anything. The reasons and the patrons of things never stop changing, guided by the necessity of a world that has no logic. But that's the key, you know? The chaotic movement of everything is the origin of life and also its demise. -And here, he always made a pause, piercing him with a gaze painfully full of reality -. So never trust the world. Even if it wanted to, it would never be able to keep its word. And never forget who you are.

>>That's the only thing life can't take from you.

_ _

_ _

That morning wasn't different from any other.

Zèon opened his eyes little before the alarm of the building started ringing loudly, an annoying shrill sound that some time ago he had been forced to get used to. Almost as if he could see through the walls, the arctic fox perceived how all the others woke up one after the other, in their own bedrooms. The beds creaked after a night of a deep sleep which, however, was not very restful; a dreamless night, full of uncertainty. In a few more minutes, the sound of footpaws walking towards the showers and the bland conversations that woke people up would become too loud to ignore. Zèon would have to follow them. It was always like that. There was no possible objection.

At least, it didn't take him long to be on the alert once he woke up. It didn't take much for Luca either. Zèon could see that, at the other side of the bedroom, the wolf had stood up and walked towards the door. They glanced at each other with an understanding look, as they always did, but that was as close to a conversation that they had. As soon as the grey tail of Luca disappeared behind the room's door, Zèon crawled to the edge of the upper berth and leaned out, holding on to the rail in order not to fall.

-Hello, Koi -he said, softly.

His eyes were fixed upon a little shape that stood right on the other side of the bed. It was covered by sheets, but seemed to breathe slightly judging for the slow movement of its body. As soon as it heard its name it started moving, too wrapped in the blankets to react faster. But Zèon waited, patiently, until a little muzzle as white as his appeared between the creases.

-Good morning, Zèon -answered a soft and sweet voice; the voice of a child -. Have you slept well? What time is it?

-Time to wake up -the arctic fox replied, as if that was enough.

-I guessed it -the other voice murmured, thoughtful -. It's always time to wake up when we open our eyes. How punctual we must be!

Comments like that got to draw a little smile in Zèon's muzzle, what wasn't a little thing given the circumstances. However, that show of weakness only took place when they both were alone. Zèon wasn't willing to allow the other ones to know that there was someone who could make him smile. Besides, he doubted that he dared to do it publicly.

As he waited hanging upside down, partially over the edge of the bed, he watched the blankets begin to untangle below as a little young husky emerged. Then, the fox did a quick mental calculation. The other residents should be now in the bathrooms, so they still had fifteen minutes left before they could shower alone. Silently, Zèon descended by the little ladder that stood against the berth, feeling the cold metal rungs painfully pressing against his footpaws.

-Will we see mom today? -Koi asked then. He had sat up in the bed and was licking his paw, in an abstracted manner. He still hadn't manage to unwrap his legs from the blankets.

Zèon felt a stabbing pain of emotion.

-No, Koi -he answered, siting by his side -. We won't see her today.

-Poor mom. She must be really bored there at home, all alone -the husky commented, with a voice full of worry.

-Maybe you should write another letter to her -Zèon suggested.

Koi seemed to reflect on that idea for some seconds, until he nodded vigorously, with so much energy that Zèon was afraid he hurt himself.

-Yes. I'll do that.

There was another long silence. The sounds of footsteps and conversations had almost completely faded away. Now they sounded fainter, softened by distance and mixed together with the sparkling sound of the shower's water. Zèon tilted his head, thoughtfully. Maybe they would have just ten minutes. Besides him, Koi rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep.

-You know? I think mom doesn't miss me at all -he confessed, after a while -. She never wrote me back. She didn't even send me one of her cookie packages as I asked her long ago. -Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide and seemed to startle -. What if she has stopped loving me for spending so much time here with you and Luca?

Again, Zèon felt another stabbing pain of emotion.

He moved over to Koi, guided by an impulse, and drew the husky close to him in what he thought was an affectionate hug. It didn't turn out very well, but the husky reacted instantly enclosing him with his little arm and sinking his head in the fox's chest. Zèon sighed.

-Believe me, Koi. She is waiting for you -he assured him, closing his eyes and trying not to feel so miserable for being lying so shamelessly to a child -. And she loves you. I'm sure of that.

Ten minutes later, both walked paw in paw down the hallway towards the bathroom. On their way, they ran into many other kane and fehlar, but Zèon barely paid attention to them. Koi, on the contrary, stopped to greet everyone he knew and precisely for that reason the arctic fox had to be aware of that and pull him softly to the showers so they didn't get there late.

After some minutes walking through a long corridor, they both entered a big gate watched closely by two human guards and went into the bathrooms. The water steam was still floating in the air, rarefying the atmosphere and bristling their fur. Zèon checked satisfied that there were only three people left in the room and started to help Koi to undress. In spite of having turned nine years recently (an age in which any other kane would have started to act in a more self-sufficient and mature way), Koi still wasn't able to do on his own such easy tasks, probably due to the absence of a paternal figure in his early childhood. Zèon didn't care paying attention to him. He had started to think of Koi as the little brother he never had.

As soon as he removed his T-shirt, the little husky shot off to the showers. Some weeks ago, he would have never dared to enter alone, but recently he had stopped being afraid of water and now he enjoyed that moment of the day in which he could play with the foam.

Zèon watched him leave and then looked out of the corner of his eye to the last person that still was in the bathroom, a leopard fehlar who in that moment was drying his fur in one of the dryers. The leopard gave him an unfriendly look and the arctic fox turned his head, breaking the visual contact. Some things never changed.

He removed his T-shirt slowly and watched his reflection in one of the closer mirrors, trying to gain some time while the fehlar dried himself off. For a kane nineteen years old, Zèon seemed to be younger than he really was. His short stature and average build, however, hid a strength that few would have believed he possessed. The youth of his face, with soft and elegant features, was only fogged by that weird mask of ice he seemed to wear wherever he went; that same mask that froze his smile and dimmed the gleam in his blue eyes. Not many had seen Zèon smile and few even knew who he was. And, of all them, only Luca knew the reason that pushed him not to show his body in the bathroom unless it was completely empty. Koi somehow sensed it, but he was too young to fully understand it.

As soon as he saw the fehlar walk by his side and checked he had left the room, Zèon quickly removed the pants of his uniform. He had no time to waste, but he couldn't help giving a brief look to his snow-white bushy tail, fondly. Every kane, even if only unconsciously, felt proud of maintaining his tail so clean and tidy. His gaze then came across his hip and he frowned when he discovered there the trace of his secret. However, there was no use in grieving about it. He only had to be sure that no one saw it.

-Look, Zèon! -Koi exclaimed once he entered the showers. He had placed foam in every black part of his fur so it seemed completely white -. Now I'm just like you!

<<I hope not>> Zèon thought, bitterly, but when he opened his muzzle he could only say:

-You are a Barkincloud, Koi.

-Luca and you say that constantly -the husky complained, a bit discouraged when he saw that his disguise had not caused much joy in the arctic fox -. And I don't even know what it means.

-It's what you are -Zèon answered, not knowing what more he could say.

-I know. And you are a Frostpaw! Why can't I be a Frostpaw, Zèon?

The fox blinked several times as he got under the shower's jet and tried to find the words to answer. <<Because I'm the last one>> he thought, bleakly.

-Because only I can be one -he said, after some time.

-Oh. That's not fair.

Zèon was about to add something when his ears perked up, alerted by a sound in the bathroom's entrance. <<Someone had to be late>> he thought, dully. Quickly, he grabbed his tail with a paw and started to pretend he was cleaning it under the water, encircling his waistline by the right side. He didn't feel completely comfortable, but at least that way no one would see what was below.

Koi watched Zèon's reaction with wide open eyes and then gave him a knowing smile. The fox put his free paw over his muzzle and made a gest indicating him that he remained silent. The husky nodded and his eyes shone under the shower's jet, as if he inwardly adored being aware of that secret. A cat fehlar entered the room, but none of them paid attention to him.

They weren't in the showers for long, anyway. After having soaped and rinsed himself up the best he could (given the circumstances, Zèon could only use one paw) both of them went straight to the dryers. Koi advanced hopping, happily. He loved the noise that the dryers made and the sensation of being in the middle of a warm air hurricane. That was also one of the only moments he could spend alone with Zèon, who he admired openly as if he was his big brother.

Both of them entered the same small cubicle and closed the crystal door of the dryer. Instantly, a stream of warm and nice air flooded the room, caressing the still humid fur of both. Not losing an instant, Zèon started to rub gently Koi's fur in order to get rid of any trace of dampness that it kept.

-If I didn't have black fur, could I be a Frostpaw? -asked then the little husky, hopeful.

-I don't think so, Koi. And I don't know why you would like to lose your black fur -the other commented, abstracted in his task -. Barkinclouds' fur is beautiful... and practical. It's dense and it preserves warmth well. I bet you would resist better than me the cold climate of...

He stopped there, containing a painful memory. Koi looked at him, questioning, but finally assumed that the fox wasn't going to continue that sentence. In fact, that happened often. He was starting to get used to it. Maybe because of that, he decided to change the subject.

-Zèon, I bet you could beat me playing hide-and-seek! -he said, smiling -. You're very good at hiding things. You do it constantly, with all the boys and girls here in the Box.

The fox gave him a bitter smile.

-Probably.

-Oh, I wish I could be a Frostpaw... -Koi sighed, again.

Zèon's bitterness transformed into affection and tried to finish drying the little husky. He really had a lovely fur, with several tones of black that spread from the tip of his tail to his back, and then to his ears. Two little black colored lines framed his violet eyes, making them seem even bigger than what they were. Zèon often thought that as soon as he grew up, he would become a handsome and good-looking husky. He only hoped that Koi was given the chance to grow up.

-Well, enough -he said, once he finished drying the little one -. Let's get dressed and go to the hall.

The first hour in the morning was always very busy in the hall of the Box. Lots of kane and fehlar gathered in the large tables arranged all over the hall, talking in a low tone or simply waiting. Zèon, dragging Koi by his paw, half-closed his eyes to make out Luca's head in the crowd and finally he found him, seated right next to Ike.

-Go with your friends -the fox said, almost without turning to look the little husky. He didn't need to be told twice and released Zèon's paw, then shot off to a table from which some kane a bit older than him had been watching him for a while.

After that, Zèon advanced towards Luca and Ike, who waited patiently in their chairs. The wolf moved left so Zèon could sit between him and Ike. Once there, the fox greeted Luca with a nod of his head and then turned to Ike with information bustling in the bottom of his eyes.

-Three centimeters -he started -. I bet it's made of the same material they use for all their cuirasses: light, of wobbly appearance but tremendously resistant in practice. It doesn't have joints or gaps, not even in the waistline. It almost seems like a full-body mail doublet, only that more resistant. -He paused for a moment -. If you tried to tear that, you would lose your claws on it.

-Good morning -Ike replied, a bit bewildered due to that torrent of information -. I'm glad to know you've also slept well.

-I told you he was observant -Luca commented with a faint smile, at the other side of Zèon.

-There's little to observe here, though -Zèon replied, as he looked away from Ike. He didn't like to look at him for long -. Only the same metal walls, in every room. They don't use torches to light them up, only those strange artificial lights. There are neither doors nor windows. The only way out that I can think of is there -he added, pointing with a claw to the other side of the hall, where there was a big crystal door -, but we already know what would happen if we tried to follow that way. This building is a box, no matter how you look at it. And we are trapped inside, watched by these humans.

Ike and Luca both stood silent for some time, exchanging a meaningful look. Zèon used the silence that his explanations had generated in order to give a brief glance to Ike so he could analyze him better. The lion practically looked like all he wasn't: big, strong, charismatic... and yes, a fehlar. His two green eyes tried to transmit confidence and the bushy red mane that covered his head gave him a regal, almost solemn air that seemed to follow him wherever he went. Zèon contained a bitter smile. Ike was the first-born son of none other than Alekai Embertooth, the Lord of the fehlar, the same one who had unified all the feline tribes to form a nation.

The same one who had decided to slaughter all of the kane seven years before.

Zèon shook his head. The relations between the kane and the fehlar had always been difficult, but since Alekai invasions, a definite rift had opened between both nations. The kane, who had not foreseen that the fehlar were going to unify so fast against them, hadn't hardly been able to do anything to stop the attack. The fehlar had penetrated into the kane's territory and had massacred their villages, one after another, finding little resistance and executing any fighter without mercy.

Little by little, innumerable families had been wiped away; their blood, lost forever in the annals of history. The first that had fallen had been the Goldsprigs, whose terrain adjoined directly with the borderline that defended kane's territories from possible fehlar invasions. After them, all the others had suffered the same fate: the Silverbacks, the Lashtails, the Barkinclouds... and the Frostpaws. Those who hadn't been executed, had been taken as prisoners. No one had been able to escape from the fehlar horror.

However, there he was: Ike Embertooth, son of Alekai Embertooth, heir to the fehlar throne and the only descendant of the one who practically had exterminated his whole race. Zèon wanted to think that desperate times call for desperate measures, and was sure that Ike thought exactly the same, since it had been him who had asked for an alliance with the kane. An ironic twist of destiny.

But the situation really required it, since the fehlar hadn't been the only ones who had planned an invasion to the kane. A new threat had appeared in Lykans just at the moment that its settlers were most divided: the humans.

At first, obviously, Zèon hadn't known what they were called. He hadn't even known what they looked like. But years after the fehlar invasions, some disturbing rumors had started to be heard between the kane refugees: a wave of disappearances had begun to wreak havoc between the fehlar ranks. Young people between eight and twenty-five years were vanishing from one day to the next leaving no trace. The high positions of the nation had tried to blame the kane of those alleged kidnapping, but most of the population hadn't believed them. How were kane going to infiltrate in their nation and what would they gain kidnapping youths?

Besides that, there were also lots of missing people between the kane refugees and prisoners. Lots of them simply seemed to vanish in the air; cells appeared completely empty at the next morning, and the same happened with the tents in the refugee camps. No one understood what was happening, but in both sides existed the slight tendency to blame the other for the disappearances. Zèon, among many others, had thought that they were related with new fehlar incursions.

He hadn't comprehended how wrong he was until he had opened his eyes a morning to find himself in the Box, with Luca. There were other fehlar, sure, but they weren't who had separated them from the lives they had lived until that moment, since all of them seemed just as bewildered as any other kane. Their captors had been, from the beginning, the humans. And the reason why they had done it was still a mystery.

At first, several confrontations had taken place between the kane and the fehlar. Some had even lost their lives fighting each other, fighting against an enemy that now wasn't such a threat. Even now, most of them couldn't still perceive the fact that the war had ended, at least for them, and that the threat they faced wasn't represented by the other side. That lack of awareness about their situation was, in that moment, more dangerous than what they thought.

Ike and Luca had been the first who understood that fact and also who comprehended that the only way to get out of the Box was to become allies. With time, the wolf had get to convince Zèon to talk with Ike. The arctic fox still didn't know what to think, but there he was.

Seated next to his enemy.

-Impressive -Ike commented then. His voice sounded strangely nice and at the same time deep as a cave's echo, despite he shouldn't be much older than Zèon -. I thought there would be no one in this place more observant than Shiba. -And, as he said those words, he pointed to the tigress who sat next to him with surly face -. But not even her manage to find out so many details about the guard's clothes.

-There are two guards posted in front of the bathroom every morning -Zèon continued, tilting his head -. And it's not so impressive. I've been eleven months here and I've had time to notice these things. I also know their shift schedule: when their watch relieves...

At that moment, the center's alarm rung again, causing a general silence to descend on the room in just a few seconds. Zèon had been there long enough to know what would happen next. Silently, he looked to the back of the hall, in the same direction that he had pointed just some minutes before, but elevating his head a little. Just some meters above the crystal doors there was a little balcony fully made of metallic plates that stood out of that unadorned wall.

Two figures had gone out into the balcony and watched the scene that took place below their feet with scarce interest. The one in front belonged to a young woman of cold features, as sharp as an ice floe. She wore her brown hair squished against her head and cut at the level of her shoulders. Over her little calculating eyes, that never stopped roaming over the room, gleamed a pair of glasses. She had her arms crossed behind her back and if it weren't for the fact that seconds ago she wasn't in the balcony, she could have been confused with a true statue.

Zèon knew her; or rather, he knew some things about her. All the guards in the complex called her respectfully "Miss Lefebvre" and the subordination with which they address to her could only mean one thing: that woman, despite how young she seemed, was the one in charge of the Box.

Besides her, there was a slightly stooped over man who watched the room with what seemed a disdainful smile in his face. This expression didn't favor him since that way he seemed to have his mouth crooked and it showed his yellowish teeth, but Zèon already knew that the outside appearance of that man was a genuine reflection of his soul. His name was (the arctic fox knew it well) Camus Beaumont and he claimed himself the "Order Comissioner" of that place. From his waist hung a little handle which, after pressing a button, projected a beam of sparks in a whip's shape. Zèon had seen it in action a few days before he arrived to the Box. He had felt it in his own skin and hadn't enjoyed the experience at all.

However, it was clear that Camus wasn't more important than any other subordinate of the woman that stood on his right; maybe one with privileges, but nothing more than a pawn, after all. Still, he wasn't the only one who dared to call her by her name instead of "Miss Lefebvre", like the other guards did. Thanks to him, Zèon knew how she was called, or at least, how she called herself.

Sophia.

-We are proceeding to the roll call -she said in that moment. Her voice was mechanic, almost impersonal, and cracked in the middle of the silence like Camus' whip -. Those who don't answer will be punished. Those who dare to interrupt me will suffer the same fate.

Then she brought her arms forward and pressed a small button on her wrist. A little blue screen was projected barely some centimeters over her skin, trembling softly in the air with an electric brightness. Zèon almost thought that he could listen to it crackling from his place, so dense the silence was.

-Aureus species -the woman said then. She hadn't raised her voice at that moment and, however, she was being listened all over the hall -. Aureus R.

A jackal raised his paw in one of the corners. Zèon contained a sigh: the list was long and until he was called, there was still a good amount of time left.

-Aureus S. Aureus T. Aureus U.

The arctic fox gave a long glance to the woman, thoughtful. If she was in charge of that place, it was likely that she also was the one who had planned all of that operation of kidnapping and reclusion. For the first time in a long while, he asked himself again for the reason why they were all locked in there. He had decided not to think about it months ago, when he had come to the conclusion that the Box was, in fact, a prison without escape route. But what was really the mystery surrounding this place, who was that woman locked behind her coldness mask?

-Aurata W. Aurata X. Aurata Y.

Although there was another possibility. What if Sophia Lefebvre was in the end no more than another pawn, a simple intermediary? That seemed less probable due to the respect that she seemed to awaken in all her subordinates, but in any case... <<Remember, Zèon: the secret for finding the truth of the things is not to discard quickly any of the options>> his Alchemy master's voice echoed, in some corner of his memory.

-Canis J. Canis K. -Koi raised his paw, obediently -. Canis L.

That, simply, he couldn't know. It was another of those unknowns that he couldn't solve by mere observation and supposition, like the location of that prison. Zèon had some theories regarding that, but he wasn't sure enough to believe any of them categorically. Formerly, he would have found it distressing to have around him so many enigmas without any answers, but he couldn't currently care about that.

There was much more at stake.

-Lagopus species -Sophia said then, taking Zèon back to reality -. Lagopus Z.

The arctic fox took only some milliseconds to react. Silently, he raised his paw and stared intently to Sophia, questioning. A great distance separated them, but still Zèon felt how those eyes pierced in his and, for an instant, he had the sensation that the woman's glance looked through him. Could that be true? Could she know what he was thinking?

But Sophia continued with her list, apparently without giving him much importance. Zèon wasn't expecting her to call for any other of his species.

He knew he was the last.

-Latrans species. Latrans G. Latrans H. Latrans I.

The roll call took place for more or less half an hour. Zèon, meanwhile, tried not to think of any more questions without answers, in a vain intent not to get mad. After all, he wouldn't get anywhere with that and he had already assumed months later that there was no way out that place. The fact that he had agreed to talk with Ike in search of an escape plan was actually because he felt terribly bored, trapped in the routine of the Box, and because Luca had asked him to do it.

He was also curious to know how it would be to talk with the heir to the fehlar throne. For many years, he had wished death to any fehlar and, it went without saying, to any member of the royal family. Zèon was glad that he hadn't succumbed to the instinct of jumping on his neck, time ago, when they had talked for the first time. That showed he still had some control over something, even if that something was his own feelings.

He didn't know what else they could take from him. He had lost his childhood at the hands of the fehlar and his freedom when he had been trapped by the humans. And still, there was something else they had stolen from him, though insignificant in practice, whose absence caused him an incurable pain.

His name. He would have given anything to be able to remember it.

-Good. With this concludes the roll call -Sophia said at that moment, taking Zèon back to reality for the second time in a short while -. On the other hand, today is internment day. I will thus proceed to read the names of those who will join you in the center. As usual, I expect no trouble. Any disturbance of order will be silenced with a well-deserved punishment.

Zèon's ears perked up, interested. Usually, Sophia didn't emphasize in the cohabitation rules, let alone the consequences of breaking them. There was also something different in her voice tone. He looked at his left, uneasy, and checked that Luca had also perceived it.

He couldn't help moving a bit in his seat, feeling uncomfortable. He wasn't sure to what extent any changes were good in this place.

-Concolor D. Jubatus H. Onca T. Pardalis S.

The crystal doors opened and some guards appeared dragging the new residents. Zèon distinguished a puma, a cheetah, a jaguar and an ocelot. They all looked really bewildered and looked around them, confused, as if they couldn't really see anything that surrounded them. Zèon, regretfully, remembered that sensation. He still felt in his throat the terror of having forgotten his own name.

All of them were fehlar. Still, that didn't explain the previous warning that Sophia had given them. Zèon sharpened his sight, trying to see if there were more residents, and found a fifth figure beyond the crystal doors.

His blood froze in his veins.

-Sapiens V -he heard the voice of Sophia, resounding in the sepulchral silence of the hall.

It was a human.