“Wake up boys and girls! Battle waits for no one! Move it, move it, move it! Alright, attention! Ah, I see you all fail to understand the proper form once again! That’s no good, no good at all. Everyone, get down and give me twenty!” Vision still blurry from sleep and balance all wrong because of his dream or some other factor, Roy swayed as he made his way in front of his locker next to a messy haired Valorie. His posture was poor and he would admit that he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing, so he just grit his teeth and got down to his hands and feet. His muscles screamed as they tried to remain firm after the abuse of yesterday, but despite the feeling of rocks in his veins, Roy pushed through. Being one of the last to finish, everyone had to wait in the ready position until he was done with his set. She made them all do another ten before standing them to attention.

“Get dressed recruits, I want boots and all on in two minutes. Chop chop!” Clapping her hands, Roy and the other recruits frantically threw their clothes on before the two minute timer was up. Unfortunately, though Roy and many others had finished in time, there were a few that were larger than average sized and had a hard time reaching down and pulling up their socks and boots. Needless to say, they didn’t finish in time and had to do another twenty push-ups. At this point, it’s been less than twenty minutes and Roy is already cursing and wishing death upon everyone in the room with him. Seeing the look of frustration on his and many other faces, Knight Halloway grinned viciously at them in return.

“Now that we had our morning pow wow, time for the warm-up. We got three weeks to shred the fat off your bones and I’ll be damned if a single one of you has trouble pulling your pants on in the morning. Recruits, with me!” Roy sighed in defeat as a ball of dread settled down in his gut.

This is going to be a long day, he thought. Hours later, Roy’s entire body felt like it was run through a woodchipper and mashed through a scrap press for good measure. He and many others stumbled into the cafeteria, finally able to get some food into them after hours of grueling exercises. The rock in his veins had hardened and turned into stone over the many pull ups, tricep pushdowns, barbell presses and more. He had never touched a weight in his life so the sudden introduction of training equipment like that had been a bit of a cultural shock, especially since everyone around him seemed to be familiar with them one way or another.

“You lot have ten minutes to eat and drink, enjoy it while you can!” Just when Roy saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the Knight came and slayed it with her wicked verbal sword. It was almost too much if it weren’t for the miserable laugh that came from some of his fellow Dregs. They were in a large cafeteria at a couple of tables, away from everyone else who were smirking towards them and whispering crude jokes.

“Don’t worry brother, at this rate you’ll be like one of those bodybuilders. You’ll be towering over them in no time, just you wait.” One of the grizzled ex-convicts named Jerry, said to Fat Mike who was staring down at his plate with watery eyes.

“But I’m so hungry Jerry, I just want a little more food!” Shaking his head, Jerry sighed and patted Fat Mike’s back and tried to comfort him. Looking down at his half finished plate, Roy picked it up and headed over to Fat Mike. He was used to being hungry and he knew that Fat Mike had been getting it harder than the rest of them due to his weight. Roy put the plate down in front of Fat Mike, causing him and Jerry to look up at him in surprise.

“We’re a team now, right? If one of us suffers, we all do. At least that’s how it was back at my orphanage. Well, anyways, I ate some already but you can have the rest.” Blushing slightly, Roy shrugged before gesturing to the plate. Looking back down at the plate, Fat Mike turned back to Roy with tears flowing slightly, “Thanks, Kid. They always had spare rations back at the prison and no one else wanted them, tasted like cardboard. I used to eat them just ‘cause I got bored and there’s nothing to do, you know what I mean? Some people go crazy but I just ate to forget. I owe you, uh, what’s your name again, kid?”

“It’s Roy.” Hearing Fat Mike’s story broke Roy’s heart a little as he knew how he felt. Back in one of the orphanages he used to live in, they couldn’t walk outside without someone trying to take them off the streets, shoot them or bully them into giving away what little food or money they had. Mostly they took both though. Not wanting to stand around and draw any more attention then he was already getting, he nodded to the pair and walked back to his seat. He sighed when he did so, but a few of the men around him gave a look of approval, except for the tatted man across who was glaring at him.. His fellow Dregs were intimidating, unlike Billy who was busy cracking a joke at one end of the table and earning a grimace from the people around him.

Roy shook his head and and focused on the table, drinking what was left of his water and trying to ease the tension from his aching muscles. Nobody said anything about his shaking arms, though he did notice that he was more out of shape than the others who were just complaining about the brutal exercises with little evidence of suffering other than their slightly quickened breathing. He was deep in his thoughts when another plate slid into view with some food in it, a couple strips of barely flavored tofu, some barely mashed potatoes and a few other random bits of food. Surprised and more than a little bit confused, Roy looked up and saw that the man with all the tattoos still glaring at him but where his plate would be was just empty table space.

“Don’t fuckin’ feed Fat Mike or anyone else, kid. Last thing we need is for you to drop dead and make us pick up your slack. Lord knows he’s got the fat reserves to make it, you don’t. Do something stupid like that again and I’ll break your fuckin’ legs.” Pale faced, Roy gulped loudly before nodding his head in understanding. Snorting, the man got up and walked away from the table. Relieved, Roy calmed down some and ate his food quietly for a few minutes before addressing the man on his right.

“Um, excuse me, but who was that guy?” the man had bushy brown hair and a similar colored beard with a slightly ginger color down the middle. He was chewing food and Roy couldn’t help but notice the food stuck in his beard. His face was weathered and tan but still held the vitality in his eyes of someone twenty years younger. Roy waited until he was done chewing before he said anything else, already feeling awkward.

“I swear, every time I’m eatin’,” he whispered, shaking his head a little bit.

“Sorry, I’m Roy by the way.” He said after coughing to hide his embarrassment.

“Well Roy, call me Bear. That right there was Bones, real mean sum’ bitch. But don’t worry, he likes you. Otherwise he wouldn’t tell you ahead of time before breakin’ yer legs. You’d wake up in the middle of the night screaming.” Ice floated through Roy’s veins as Bear went on, telling him more about Bones and the others around him at the table. He can’t believe he was surrounded by so many crazy people, almost all of them were murderers. But Bear went on to explain some of the more finer points of prison rules as well, much to Roy’s horror.

“Now rapists? Pedophiles? Ain’t not place in the universe for them types, nope. Best thing you can do is kill ‘em all, every last one of ‘em.” The men around the table gave a loud series of ‘mmhmms’ and one even said ‘amen brother’. Roy couldn’t muster much sympathy for those kinds of people himself, but to kill a man? They make it seem so… easy. So trivial. As if a person’s life was a commodity, something to be disposed of when it became too ripe. Roy wanted to be disgusted, but Roy knew better than most that it’s easy to judge and for all he knew they had a personal reason for such a disposition. Not against the view of certain vile people, but the act of murder itself, to take ones life in your own hands. It gave Roy plenty to think about during his time at Sol Invictus.

But bear was interrupted during his impassioned speech about being crafty and how to make the necessary tools for survival like a shank when he was interrupted by Knight Halloway, “Alright, lunchtime ‘s over Dregs. Time to go for a little stroll.” Arriving later than any other group, the Dregs mixed with orphans and criminals left for their final exercises. Everything and anything that the Knight could think of they did, whether it was running for ten miles or forcing Roy and the others to be held down by the squires while the Knight wailed away on them. It was brutal and abusing, so physically exhausting that Roy and the others could barely make it to their beds. But their rest was short as the Squire slave drivers roused them up to go shower before resting and only once the Knight dismissed them could they sleep. Roy didn’t stay up and stare at the ceiling this time, his body immediately shutting down to repair itself and his dreams were blessedly empty.

The second day was just as hard, if not more difficult. People’s limbs were screaming at them from the inside while the Knight and her Four Horsemen did their part on the outside. Roy’s legs were stiff and the fibers of his muscles screeched with the simple act of getting out of bed in the morning. The day passed much like the day before, except the pain and general exhaustion had thrown everyone into a zombie-like state. No one spoke, just grimly followed orders and drove forward with the smallest bits of enthusiasm they could scrape up. They received no rest except for their twenty minutes of time allocated for lunch. It was a blessing to be able to sit and rest for what felt like a luxurious amount of time, but was also a curse in disguise. Roy constantly checked the clock up on the wall, one of those ancient analog clocks. It stood out from the hyper modern facility, but maybe it was a way to keep some of humanity’s roots with them even when they travelled to distant stars. But to Roy, the second-hand tickled like the countdown to doom.

Even Billy, the light hearted and kind man Roy had first met was silent and focused mostly on his plate of food and managing a spoonful of food in his mouth, though his hand shook terribly. Fat Mike was quiet as well, struggling to eat his food alongside Jerry. Roy didn’t think he’d have enough time to eat his plate and half of Roy’s share again, not that he’d try again after Bones threat. Speaking of which, Bones seemed to be faring well, eating his food without much shaking in his movements at all. Though his usual death glare kept people from trying to strike a conversation with him and figure out his secret to not dying via exercise. Well, everyone except Bear.

“Ay, Bones. What gives? You spend all your time working out when you were locked up or what?”

“Fuck off, Bear,” Bones said, now glaring towards Bear at full force.

“Come on, is it a secret breathing technique? Or something more exotic, like kegels during your sleep?” Bear turned slightly to face Bones across the table from Roy. The silence at the table made it so everyone heard the discussion and now people were looking on intently. As long as it distracted them from their pain long enough. Bones took a quick look around the table before turning back to Bear, his eyes narrowing.

“It’s a breathing thing, yeah. Breathe through your stomach, not your chest. Builds the core, lightens the stress on muscles and get less knots. Happy? Now leave me the fuck alone.” Bones turned away from Bear and stabbed his food, intent on glaring at the table instead. Seeing this, Bear respected the request and remained silent, but now the spell was broken and others were talking again, propagating the information. Roy could hear bits and pieces but they all seemed to pertain to the training regiment and how they were handling them. Some complained about upper body, but most were frustrated with the lower body and core exercises. Roy could sympathize as he had to try and keep himself together so he wouldn’t puke just walking over to the cafeteria line.

But in no time at all, their twenty minutes were up and they were back in the thick of it. Knight Halloway had them all running around the recruit training area for about five to ten mile loops, having each of them take turns leading the column towards specific areas. If they took too long, they all had to do either burpees, pushups, sit ups or squats, depending on her mood. If they took any wrong turns, same thing. Really, if Knight Halloway was displeased in any way, she would just stop them in the middle of the hallway and exercise right then and there. Always when they were done, they left large pools of sweat that were cleaned up by little droids hidden in the walls that beeped happily before returning to their hidden stations.

It was finally over for the day when the Knight signalled they finish their set of pull-ups and jog back towards their barracks. By this point, Roy and everyone else besides the Knight and her Four were familiar with being completely soaked in sweat and tears in some cases. Maybe because of giving part of his lunch to Fat Mike or just how out of shape he was in general, but Roy was trailing behind everyone else. His vision was spinning lightly and his head felt light, as if it were floating and attached to his body via cables. Turning around to see if anyone else was behind him, he saw a dark hallway with silvery white orbs watching him from within the shadows. They jostled in sync with his footsteps and the further he ran, the more they expanded until the hallway was pitch black, as if it was a physical thing that filled the volume of the hallway, getting closer and closer to Roy.

Wide-eyed, he turned back around to see everyone in front of him turn a corner and he still had a little ways to go before it. Fearing whatever it was behind him, he found new strength in his legs and lungs, pumping his arms viciously as he sprinted towards the end of the hallway. In his peripheral vision, he could see tendrils of shadow racing beside him, chasing through the metal surrounding him, but he was close and if he could make it back to the group in time he felt that he’d be safe. Sprinting so fast, he didn’t have the time to slow down for the turn and instead rammed into the wall with his shoulder, causing pain to flare against his side in blinding agony, but he wouldn’t let that hold him back and continued to sprint after bouncing off the wall with his eyes shut.

When he finally blinked the white stars out of his vision, his face grew pale and he tried to stop, skidding across the slick floor. Unable to slow down completely, Roy’s feet slipped out from underneath him and he was on his back, staring up at the shadow-man as he’d come to call him. Ribbons of darkness trailed upwards from its silhouette, covered in those white, silvery eyes. He stood out from the brightly lit hallway until the consuming darkness that had been chasing after Roy had caught up and swallowed everything around them, reminding Roy of their first meeting when he left Earth on the Kass ship ‘Icarus’. Except this time there were no restraints to keep him held, but despite that, Roy felt he couldn’t move. He was trapped, swallowed up by this thick and oppressive material.

Then came the whispers and unlike the previous two encounters, they were in unison from the beginning.

“Do not fear the Darkness.” Like a tidal wave of vocal power, the words were forced into his bones from every angle, as if from the darkness itself.

“For soon, we shall be one.”

“Soon.”

With that promise repeating over and over again, Roy stared up at the shadow-man with wide-eyes before being jerked downwards and falling. His descent plunged him in that familiar throat of despair, trailing white lights outlined in grey light. For hours, years, decades he fell. Time held no meaning in this place, an Abyss for him alone. Staring downard, Roy yearned to just be over with this nightmare and sought to reach the bottom, if only to find peace in death. But he just kept falling with no sign of change. Eventually, he turned back to the familiar wisps of light, seaking the grey to see if he’d wake from that again, but no matter how much he focused, the real world evaded him. Because surely he was dreaming, there was no way this was possible. He just wanted the dream to end.

Closing his eyes, Roy cried openly, knowing that no one was there to witness his shame. All his life, he’d never been in control. From one home to another until he ended up at Ariana’s Hope, he felt alone amongst a crowd of strangers. He cursed his mother, his father and all the others who stared at him like he was scum. He wished he had the power, the influence that those so high above him had, to make a change. He thought joining the G.U.N. would let him prosper, to grow beyond the scared boy he was. But it hasn’t, it had only broken him down further. He was tired of being weak, tired of being hunted by shadows and these constant nightmares that blurred between him and reality. He wanted to be happy. He’d only been happy a few times in his life and he chased after that fleeting feeling like his life depended on it, but it escaped his grasp constantly.

Feeling hopeless, Roy opened his eyes and was taken aback, blinking rapidly. The shadow-man was back, floating beneath him. There were no thunderous whispers or threats, but in it’s hand was what could only be a sword, forged from shadows and light. It had the shape of a longsword with blinding, pulsating light constantly swirling around dark ribbons, always moving. Grey light wrapped around the blade in a thin layer while the handle was a construct made purely of light. The sword hurt to stare at and eventually Roy turned from it and blinked rapidly.

“A sword of opposite forces, light and dark, wrapped in Grey from their communion. A sword to inspire, to instill despair. To blind and bind, to cut and to seal. When you walk the knife’s edge, the blade will answer, and so will we.” It whispered. There were no eyes but the ones where a normal person’s would be, it’s voice quiet amongst the empty surroundings. It held the sword up to Roy with two hands, as if intended for him to take it.

It called to Roy, the answer to all his silent prayers. It promised power, warping the surroundings with it’s absoluteness. Roy wanted that and more, and it promised all those things. He reached for it, yearned for it. He drew closer to it and as he was just about to grasp it’s handle, the shadow-man whispered one more time.

“But power comes at a cost, one you cannot pay. Not now, but soon. We will be waiting. For now, endure. We are watching and you are not alone. Never again.” The shadow-man’s solemn promise was the last thing he heard before he was no longer falling, but flying upwards. The darkness, the white and grey light snapped away, jerking him awake. Panting, he layed in bed while he tried to recall everything from his dream. He was covered in sweat, but by this point he was used to the feeling. Slowly, his heartbeat calmed and he tried to rest, but his mind was plagued with hopelessness. He eventually fell back asleep, staining his pillow with silent tears, but right before he fell back asleep and empty dreams, he thought he heard a voice, a whisper.

“Never again.”