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-You have to prevent them from killing him -was the first thing that Zèon said, once Sophia's figure disappeared as she walked through the balcony's door, followed by Camus.

-What...? -Ike asked, still confused.

-You have some authority here; if you don't do anything, they'll slaughter him -Zèon insisted, with a slight tone of urgency.

Numerous murmurs had risen in the hall; some whispered with curiosity, but in most of them Zèon could hear scornful comments and even unpleasant threats. Zèon wished that Koi couldn't hear any of them. In silence, he looked around and found what he had already supposed he would find: a generalized hatred against the new resident. Some were already leaving their seats, willing to advance towards that intruder, with no good intentions.

They had to do something immediately.

Zèon turned to Ike in order to ask him again to act, but it seemed he had reacted at last and finally had stood up. Maybe he couldn't calm everyone down, but he could contain the fehlar and maybe even restrain the kane before they thought twice about attacking the human. Zèon exchanged another nervous look with Luca and next he searched for Koi. He found him in his table, chattering with his friends. He hoped that his conversation had nothing to do with the rest of comments that could be heard all over the room.

Ike went directly towards the bewildered human, which had been left in the middle of the room, as had all new residents. In that moment, the fehlar newcomers seemed to wake up from their lethargy.

-Your Majesty! -the ocelot exclaimed -. You're... here!

-Yes -the lion answered, placing a paw in one of the human's shoulders, in a protective attitude. That was a way to demonstrate to his own people that he wasn't going to tolerate the human receiving harm of any kind, and it caused that some of the fehlar stared at him in disbelief. In the kane's gazes, just the opposite: there was only hostility.

However, the lion gesture didn't have the desired effect.

As soon as the human felt that heavy paw on his shoulder, he got rid of it and stepped back, his eyes as big as saucers and a genuine expression of horror in his face.

-What... what the hell? -he asked, as he got away from that crowd of anthropomorphic animals. He tripped over his own feet and fell backwards, but it only took a few seconds for him to stand up again -. What's happening? Where am I? What are you...!?

Zèon frowned from the added difficulty, but when Ike looked at him dispiritedly, as if asking him what to do, he just shrugged. He didn't know either what to do about that.

-Why do you want to save him? -Luca asked, interested.

-I just think he could be useful -Zèon argued, watching with worry the commotion that was taking place in the hall -. He's just been made a prisoner by his own race, so I imagine that there's a good reason for it. Besides, he could have information. Data about the outside and his race. To finish him off would mean to lose a possible way out for us, and I don't think we can't afford that.

Luca nodded in understanding.

-I don't think Ike can handle all of them -he commented, after a while -. I'm going to give him a paw.

A circle of kane and fehlar had reunited around Ike and the trembling human, who had huddled against the wall with exorbitantly fearful eyes. Ike remained between the human and the rest of them, but just as Luca had foreseen, he alone wouldn't be able to stop that wave of rejection and hatred.

-What is he supposed to be doing here? -asked a leopard in the first rows of the circle -. Is this a joke?

-Look how he doubles over in fear now that he's not behind one of those guard uniforms... humans are all cowards! -exclaimed a male hyena who was dangerously close to the new resident.

-This is our chance to show humans that we don't belong to them!

-Let's kill him! -a voice choired.

-Yes! Let's finish him off and throw his remains to the balcony so that woman will know the mistake she's made when he let him enter the Box!

-Stop it! -Ike roared, enraged. His red eyes shone brightly and his tail traced small arcs behind him, cutting the air as a whip -. No one's going to lay a paw on this human! What would you gain from it?

The same hyena that had talked before walked a few steps closer.

-And what did you gain from massacring all the kane, oh, grand prince Ike? -he asked, disdainfully -. Do you dare to tell us that we should be more respectful than what you were in your day?

Those words triggered a new choir of complaints and exclamations. The kane accused the fehlar of being hypocrites; the fehlar replied saying either that the kane had asked for it or that it wasn't the best moment to bring that subject up. And in the middle of that storm of shouts, accusations and insults, some kept on insisting that the human should be murdered. Ike, helpless, looked around without knowing who to answer, or what to do in order to prevent this from having a bad end. Things didn't look good at all.

-I don't think this is the best moment to remember all those old wounds, Kainn -Luca commented then, walking his way through the rows of kane and fehlar until he reached Ike -. We, the kane and the fehlar, are condemned to live here in the Box together. To provoke unnecessary conflicts would only create another war. And I'm tired of war. Aren't you?

The hyena clenched his fists.

-I'm tired of this war, but that's no reason to forget it. And you're right, maybe now our enemies are not the fehlar, but the humans like the one you try to defend!

-If he is here, there has to be a good reason for it -Luca replied, remembering Zèon's words -. He wouldn't have been made prisoner if he hadn't done something that could have annoyed the humans. And if that's so, then I understand that this boy -he added, pointing to the immobile shape that remained behind them -is an enemy of his own race. Thus, wouldn't you even consider the possibility that he might become our ally?

-I would never become ally with a human! -someone among the crowd exclaimed, indignant.

-Well, you said the very same about the fehlar some time ago, right? -Ike intervened, gently.

-Even if you were right, Luca, and he wanted to join us, your theory that he is an enemy of his own race is no more than a wild guess! -the hyena exclaimed, stepping forward again -. Who says that woman hasn't put him in here to discover how weak we are? Maybe she enjoys watching how we submit to her race, and wants to see if we have enough courage for revenge!

-Now, that's "wild guess" -Luca murmured, with a half-smile -. Wouldn't you be interested at least in obtaining information from this human?

-I'd be more than willing to lose that information -the hyena assured, with an unpleasant smile -. In fact, I would give it up just to sink my teeth in the throat of one of those bastards who locked us in here.

Luca replied something, but the racket of voices that the last comment had triggered muffled his words. The circle started to narrow more and more around the human, as Ike and Luca stepped back, trying to prevent anyone from advancing too much. Behind them, a motionless shape remained curled in the floor. After some seconds, Kainn got closer and purposefully shoved Luca, trying to push him out of his way.

-Hey!

Ike didn't hesitate for a second and went right towards the hyena, willing to defend the only one who seemed to be his ally at that moment. Kainn saw him approach and smiled again, showing all his teeth and accepting the challenge. He had long been looking for an excuse to start a fight with the fehlar prince and wasn't going to miss that chance. He was sure that, as any other member of the royalty, the lion didn't know what real close combat fighting was and Kainn was looking forward to teach him a lesson.

Whether Ike remained alive or not after that was irrelevant.

-Kainn is right -a voice could then be heard, in the middle of the hall.

The hyena's smile froze in his face and he turned back, surprised; not because of the words he had just heard, but because of who had said them. One after another, the participants in that quarrel turned towards the tables, which in that moment were practically empty, except for the youngest boys and a little arctic fox with a regal expression.

-Kainn is right -Zèon repeated, a bit louder, not even deigning to give them a look -. The human is here because Sophia wants to test us. I bet that right now she is watching us, noting each of our reactions.

-I knew it... -the hyena muttered, stepping towards the human.

-Still -Zèon continued -, this is not a test of courage, as Kain mistakenly thought. This is a reasoning test.

-What? -Kainn stopped, confused. An expectant silence had dominated the hall.

Meanwhile, Zèon looked around the hall, with curiosity, as if he was expecting to find Sophia's face in each corner. After a few seconds, he sighed.

-That human -he added, pointing out the stretched out body against the wall, without even looking at him -is our only possibility to escape from here. The only link we have with our captors and the only way to know what reasons motivate them and what are their weaknesses. -He paused for a moment -. I think what Sophia is expecting to find out is if we are able to postpone the hatred and resentment that we feel against her race, in exchange of obtaining a little escape possibility.

-That is... absurd -Kainn murmured, taken aback -. You want to tell me this is just a social experiment?

-Well, it was your idea -Zèon reminded him, shrugging.

Ike breathed deeply and managed a faint smile, thanking the arctic fox internally for his opportune intervention. <<Luca was right>> he though, relieved <<He is a really observant kane>>.

-But that doesn't change anything -the male hyena protested, after some seconds -. If, as you say, that woman is trying to play with us, I'm not going to allow her to...

-If you kill the human, you'll fall directly in her trap -Zèon interrupted him, gently -. You will prove that the kane and the fehlar are racially inferior to the humans, that we don't possess a rational capacity over our instincts and therefore, that we deserve to be prisoners in here. Don't you understand? She isn't judging us. She's judging our races.

Kainn frowned and grimaced, bad-tempered.

-Unfortunately, I have nothing to prove to that whore -he spat -. Is there anyone else who wants to bathe in human blood tonight? -he asked, louder, waiting for their cheers to revive again.

However, Zèon's words had cast doubt on those who just a few seconds before had been infected by Kainn's murderous delusions, and just a few kane called out his words. In the middle of that deafening silence, it was hugely clear that there was practically no one left willing to attack that human, let alone with Ike and Luca protecting him.

The hyena let out a loud snort and immediately after he burst into laugh.

-Cowards -he mumbled then, before spitting to the floor and moving away from the center of the circle into the crowd.

Ike could breathe at last.

Little by little, the people that had gathered around him, Luca and the human, gradually disappeared until they had returned to their places at the tables. In a few minutes, the hall had recovered its usual morning routine, although from time to time there were some who gave a distrusting look to the human newcomer, who remained on the floor, motionless.

-He is really calm -Ike commented, surprised.

Luca chuckled.

-I think he passed out a short while ago, probably even before listening to Kainn, which probably is better for him -he said -. Can you help me carry him to our bedroom? The lower berth in my bedroom is free and I think that's the best place we can leave him for now.

Ike nodded.

-Are you completely sure of what you said before? -Ike asked, once they had left the human in Luca's berth -. That about Sophia watching us and all that stuff.

In that moment, everyone was having the usual meal in the Box: a thick yellowish paste which tasted earthy and had a sticky texture. It wasn't precisely delectable for the palate, but it was the only sustenance they were given there and complaining, very likely, would have implied risking to receive some lashes by Camus. Generally, people preferred eating without question.

-Zèon -Luca called him, gently -. I think he was talking to you.

-Hmm...? -the arctic fox asked, with his mouth full. At the moment Ike was addressing him he was paying too much attention to Koi in order to listen to the other clearly.

-I mean -the lion repeated -, do you really think Sophia watches us in order to check if we are a rational race or not?

-I don't know -Zèon answered, sincerely -, but that's the only possibility I can think of. We shouldn't rule out the possibility that the human is here due to some crime he committed.

-I still find it very weird that they have made prisoner of one of their own -Ike commented, frowning -. He is the first human they have interned here in a year. Something doesn't make sense.

-It's simply a change -Zèon murmured, shrugging as he picked his empty plate and stood up -. You shouldn't give it more importance; the world is full of them.

Then, he moved away from the table and went to the shelf where they had to deliver the silverware once they finished eating. Ike watched him as he walked, interested, and then turned to Luca:

-Is he always like that? -he asked, with a light smile.

-He likes watching things and taking part only when it's really necessary -the wolf replied, smiling back -. I still remember the day I met him. He's been through a lot, you know? -He paused -. Still, I know he can be a bit annoying sometimes. I apologize for him if that bothers you. He doesn't mean it.

-You don't need to apologize -Ike assured him, feeling conciliatory.

However, his eyes were still fixed on that little arctic fox who, at that moment, walked back to his room. He wouldn't have been able to say what, but there was something behind that ice mask, behind those calculating eyes, that had him fully intrigued.

Zèon slumped onto his bed, exhausted.

He didn't know why, but the days in the Box were terribly tiring for him, almost as if due to his absolute isolation his energy languished day by day. Or maybe it was because of all those questions without answers, which at night dragged in his mind like worms, preventing him from getting some sleep for a while. He always tried to dispel them from his thoughts, to believe they weren't there, but he couldn't get rid of all of them.

Furthermore, when he managed to ignore them, memories flooded his mind. Sometimes, memories of the most pleasant moments of his life; other times, memories which belonged to his darker times. In any case, Zèon knew that, although falling into the clutches of his enigmas was more frustrating, it was healthier than sinking into the bittersweet waters of his memories. Of enigmas, at least, he could escape.

The young arctic fox had always had all he wanted.

Raised as the only child in the court of Northundra, he had always been the center of attention of servants and maids, besides being the jewel in the crown of his parents, who after some unsuccessful attempts to conceive, had received him as a blessing. Soon it was commented in the whole palace that he was unusually handsome, with his snow-white fur and his eyes, of such a bright blue color that they almost looked like ice crystals.

Soon after that, his parents have perceived that the kit's observational ability was beyond the limits of any child his age. Not willing to waste the innate capacities of the child, they had decided to give him an exemplary education, gathering in their court some of the most steamed teaches of all the kane territory. This way, the little arctic fox, who had learned to read on his own since little, started to study the basics of Arithmetic, Geometry and Alchemy, together with Geography, History and the classic Literature of the kane culture.

Furthermore, as years passed by, the kit demonstrated a very open and kind nature and an especially affectionate behavior. On the other hand, he felt an innate curiosity for anything he saw and often joined the cooks or the lackeys in their doings, only to learn "how their job was done". He was respectful with everyone, in spite of the fact that some of them felt intimidated talking with the son of the land ruler.

When he wasn't poking around the palace, he locked himself in the loom room with his mother and watched her as she weaved exquisite embroideries with threads so fine and of beautifully colored that they seemed the very Northern lights, which was the Frostpaws' Household emblem. As the nimble paws of his mother glided over the spinning wheel, she usually told him tales about far lands, about heroes whose name had fallen in oblivion long ago, and Zèon just listened, spellbound.

In the palace no one talked about other than the virtues of the following ruler of the court. Some considered that he was a blessing for the Northern region of the kane territory, and others even commented that he would even have been a great king of all the kane if he had just been in the correct succession line.

His parents were proud of him and only regretted that his son found it so hard to relate with other children his age. Instead of that, Zèon preferred the company of books, of his Alchemy teacher and of his own imagination. In any case, the lords of Northundra allowed him to be like that, because they knew there was nothing they could do in order to change it, and they secretly expected that someday the little arctic fox would open to friendship from other kane his age.

But time passed and war echoes started to be heard from the lands of the Goldsprigs, who assured they had seen movement in the fehlar ranks and that different families seemed to have gathered, for the first time in centuries. Many, however, downplayed those rumors. Zèon's father was one of them and he just decided to wait, from his palace in Northundra, for the wind to carry those voices who predicted an imminent war away from them.

But wind betrayed them.

The fehlar quickly advanced through all the kane territory, conquering all they found on their way. The news that arrived from the courts that had already suffered the fehlar attack were, at the very least, bloodcurdling. Zèon got to see a messenger who appeared in his father's hall, begging for shelter and covered with blood. One of his arms was missing.

The little arctic fox knew what was happening, but he was too innocent in order to predict its outcome. His parents had already told him what he should do the day when the fehlar arrived: get into an underground passage which left the palace and led to a village in the far lands of the Barkinclouds, close friends of the lords of Northundra. They had also had problems conceiving a child and, just some months ago, had assisted in the ceremony to name his first descendant, who had been born after years of frustrating tries to ensure their line of succession.

Zèon remembered the little husky, barely a few months old, looking amusingly at him from the crib. That was the first time he had seen Koi, although at that moment he had a name; a true name, not like that false fake name he had been given when he had entered the Box. Zèon had also had a name in the past and had forgotten it too.

The day of the invasion, Zèon had entered the passage with his Arithmetic master. Both had run in the dark without looking back. Zèon, with tears in his eyes; his master, with sorrow in his heart. They had been going across that passage for some days that felt like an eternity. They often stopped in the dark to eat or do their business, in much more precarious conditions that Zèon could have imagined so far.

Then, finally, a light started to shine at the end of the tunnel. The little arctic fox still remembered the desperate weight of his heart, that with each beat clang to life as if grasping at straws, as they ran towards the light, towards hope.

None of them could have known it.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, they found a scene which was hugely different from what they had imagined.

The village they had expected to find shelter in was absolutely massacred. Little smoke spirals still escaped from the destroyed walls of the houses, a memory of the fire that had consumed it all not so long ago. Corpses stacked on top of each other in the corners, rotting and liberating a dreadful smell of putrefaction. A group of fehlar looked at them, from just some meters away.

The Arithmetic master had turned to Zèon, comprehending too late what had happened. He hadn't had time to warn him; a fehlar axe had fallen with lightning speed on his head and a warm and sticky stream of blood had splashed the kit, who had let out a scream. The motionless body of his master had fallen to the ground, with the axe stabbed up to his jaw.

-Hey, look! -had exclaimed one of the fehlar guard -. Isn't that the son of the bloody couple of the ice?

-Oh, he is! -another guard had answered happily, a cat of crooked and sinuous expression -. I still remember how that bitch screamed when Hogar mounted her!

-All of us would scream if Hogar tried to mount us -had laconically replied a stocky tiger who remained by a stump sharpening his sword.

-Well, she didn't scream much after that -the cat commented -. There was no way she possibly could do it, without head! -And started to gesticulate in an exaggerated way, grabbing his throat with both paws and letting out some little high-pitched screams. All the fehlar except the tiger laughed at the joke.

Zèon listened to those words, horrified, and then felt a sudden emptiness as they sank in. It was almost as if his mind had stopped working; as if, unable to pay attention any longer to those terrible events, his thoughts had escaped from his head as a safeguard mechanism. He didn't even listen to the rest of jokes that the fehlar made at the expense of all they had found and murdered in Northundra's palace.

He just reacted when that cat with an impossible smile approached him, with a shark knife in one of his paws. In the glint of that knife, Zèon believed he saw the passage of his short life: just eleven years of life in a bubble, isolated from the outside world, lost in books and numbers, in theories about the world and in kitchens full of servants. He regretted it.

He didn't move when he felt the cold touch of the knife in his throat, whispering deadly words. The cat's smile sharpened even more. His paw slightly moved to the right, about to start a definite movement.

-Wait, you idiot -the tiger reprehended him, pushing him aside. He had gotten up from the stump and approached the cat from his back, with annoyed expression -. Be careful what you kill.

Zèon hadn't reacted, not even when the blade of the knight had been removed from his throat and a small trickle of blood had started to flow from his neck. Then, the tiger had kneeled before him (in that moment, Zèon realized he himself had fallen to his knees) and had grabbed him gently of his chin in order to look at him directly in the eye.

The arctic fox saw through a veil of tears how that stocky tiger, that monstrous fehlar, analyzed him carefully trying to imagine him under that layer of blood that covered his fur. After a few seconds, a smile of satisfaction had appeared in the feline face of the tiger.

-Do not be afraid -he said, as he caressed one of his bloodstained cheeks -. You are special.

>>You shall live.

-Don't you think it's interesting?

The woman's voice got lost in the middle of the room, in the middle of that annoying electric buzz that seemed to stifle everything. Camus squirmed a bit, uncomfortable, at the other side of the room. His pale hunchbacked face reflected the blue light from a big screen placed just in front of him; a blue screen in which dozens of different numbers and codes oscillated back and forth quickly.

-No, of course you don't think so -Sophia whispered, with weariness -. You wouldn't understand what these numbers mean in a million of years.

-It's not my job to understand them -Camus defended himself.

-You wouldn't understand them either even if it was -Sophia replied, placing her hands in the cold metal monitor. Her nails drummed gently on the smooth surface, with interest and impatience.

Meanwhile, Camus remained at the back of the room. After a few seconds in silence, he let out a disdainful snort and made a face.

-I don't know why you waste your time with this nonsense, Sophia. They're animals. Just that.

-And you're just as blind to the reality in front of you as you are to these numbers -Sophia added, sadly -. You know, Camus? I should replace you with that arctic fox. I think he would understand me better than you. At least, he would for sure show some interest in what I show to him.

Camus didn't answer to the insult.

-Oh, get out -the woman finally ordered, with an expression of absolute contempt.

The other didn't need to be told twice. He opened the door at the back of the room and disappeared through it, leaving Sophia alone inside.

The woman then sat in a metallic chair placed in front of the monitor and stared off into that torrent of information, into that wave of numbers. The codes from the blue screen reflected in her pupil and, after some seconds, in a wide smile of satisfaction.

-Yes, Lagopus Z -she murmured for herself -. You are interesting. You are special.