Run.

Run. Run. Run. Run. Run.

As the sun came up and illuminated the path in front of him he forced himself to continue running. His chest ached, but he ignored it. His throat burned, but he ignored that too. He was covered in sweat, and dirt, he even had blood from falling over so many times. He was gasping for air, the feeling of invincibility that came with exercise had passed long ago. Now all that remained was fear and adrenaline. That's the only thing that kept him from passing out. The only thing that kept him from stopping for the air he oh so desperately craved and needed. It was all that kept Virgil from breaking down completely and unleashing his full fury right into this forest.

Suddenly an image filled his head, a white horse zooming past right as he stepped in front of it. Virgil blinked before stopping just in time to avoid the horse in his vision, but not the rider. Someone crashed into him and sent him flying backward. He crashed on the ground with a pained grunt. He heard someone else fall backward too than a gasp before the sound of crunching leaves followed. "Are you alright?" the voice asked as a hand stretched in front of him

Virgil looked up at the young man, really he couldn't have been to much older than Virgil himself, and his eyes widened in fear before he started trying to crawl away. He looked like Remus. The boy looked confused, he looked Virgil up and down before his eyes landed on Virgil's satchel. The emblem of the Dark Realm blended nicely with the black fabric but it was still easy to spot. Virgil watched the concern and confusion in the boys face turn to anger before the boy drew a sword and pointed it towards Virgil, "You're from the Dark Realm, aren't you?" the boy asked

Virgil tried backing away again, but the boy stepped on his cloak and kept him from moving too far back. "Answer the question!" Virgil nodded as the sword drew closer to his chest. Of course, he was from the Dark Realm, where else would he be from? "Why have you trespassed onto our land?" the boy asked.

Virgil froze. He looked the boy up and down. He took in the outfit he wore, the red, white, and gold standing out like a sore thumb in the dense forest. His eyes landed on a crown and made their way down to the emblems the boys wore.

Oh god.

Virgil was in the Light Realm.

And not only was he in the Light Realm but he was in the Light Realm standing in front of Prince Roman.

"Why are you here?" Prince Roman asked him loudly. Virgil raised his hands in surrender and shook his head violently. Prince Roman turned his head curiously, "Why aren't you talking?"

Virgil put a fist to his mouth 'mute' he had signed.

Prince Roman probably didn't understand because he pushed the sword closer to Virgil, it touched his chest, and he repeated the question. "Why aren't you talking?"

Virgil shook his head again, and he put his fist to his mouth. He was a mute, selectively at least. It had been years since he had spoken, not even Remus had heard it and they had known each other for two years now.

Prince Roman looked down at him before sighing, "You're coming with me"

Virgil shook his head. No, he couldn't go with him. Roman would kill him once he knew who he was. And Virgil still needed to help Dee and Remus. He needed to help his kingdom. There were people there! Soldiers were hurting his people. They were taking them somewhere, they had wanted him and his brother for some reason. Something was wrong and that meant that Virgil couldn't go with them.

Prince Roman ignored the way Virgil shook his head, he just whistled and the sound of galloping feet came through the trees. "Stay put" Roman demanded as he grabbed his horses' reigns and dug through the pack, pulling out a rope.

Virgil stood up, ignoring Roman's command before trying to take back off into the forest. Roman caught him before could even take one step forward. Roman sheathed his sword again as Virgil fought his grip. Unlike last night though he couldn't get free. He was tired, he had been running all night, he had used his magic and that always drained him. There was no way Virgil would be able to escape Roman's hold.

Still, he fought as Roman forced Virgil to his knees and as he tied Virgil's hands together. He struggled as Roman forced him back to his feet and as he pulled him towards his horse. He pushed and pulled as Roman threw him onto his horse. Roman wrapped an arm around Virgil's waist, the younger flinched and froze before suddenly becoming even more desperate to get away from Roman. He attempted to pry the hand off but it didn't work very well.

Roman continued to ignore him and Virgil continued to try and fight him, eventually though he stopped. His body shook with fear. Roman kept asking him questions once he stopped struggling, but Virgil remained silent and eventually Roman stopped too until they finally reached a large white castle. Virgil looked up at it, then looked away. Why was the Light Realm in perfect condition while his home was gone? How was this fair?

Did the Light Realm attack them? The soldiers didn't look like Light Realm soldiers. And Prince Roman didn't seem to recognize him, but the soldiers had known exactly who he was. But then again, the Dark Realm didn't have any other enemies besides the Light Realm, their father was good at making sure of that. Their father was careful even. It had to be the Light Realm, didn't it?

It didn't matter.

At least not now.

What mattered was that Virgil's home was gone, his family was in danger, and he had been captured by the Light Realm.

Virgil was laying on a cot in a cell. He had been here for three hours and had fallen asleep for one of them. He was awake now and terrified. His bag had been taken from him, and his hands were still tied together. He was still too weak to do any magic rendering him unable to protect himself. His breath was normal and even again, and he had stopped crying before ever running into Roman. His eyes still remained red and puffy though.

The sound of the door opening made him shoot upward. Three people entered the room and stood outside his cell. The Prince, and two others. Both wore glasses and different variations of blues. Virgil pushed himself into the corner, "Hi kiddo, I'm Patton, I'm friends with Prince Roman. You have no need to be afraid okay?" the one wearing the lighter blue said

Virgil said nothing.

The one in the darker colors took a step forward, "Would you mind telling us your name?" Virgil lifted his hands, putting the fist to his mouth again. The three others looked at each other with confusion.

"He did that earlier too," Prince Roman said as he crossed his arms in front of him and glared at Virgil.

"Kiddo? What's that mean?" Patton asked him.

Virgil paused, he couldn't sign the explanation with his hands tied. He repeated the action again. The boys looked at each other again, they whispered something before turning back to him. "Can you talk?" the one in darker colors, and the only one who Virgil didn't know the name of, asked him. Virgil shook his head then tried pushing himself deeper into the corner.

"Why," Prince Roman said. Virgil said nothing, just gave them the same sign again.

"Can you write?" the mystery boy asked as he pulled a pen and notebook from his pocket. Virgil nodded and the boy put his hands through the bars, trying to hand Virgil the items. Virgil stared at them, "I will not harm you, none of us will unless you give us a reason to"

Virgil was still hesitant, but nodded and pushed himself to stand before slowly approaching the bars of the cell. He took the items but showed the rope to the boys. "Apologies," the mystery boy said. He waved his hands over the ropes and they fell. Virgil stared at his hands for a moment, the boy had magic. Like him, well not like him, this boy was good at magic and Virgil struggled terribly with it.

"Logan," Prince Roman said under his breath, "He could be dangerous"

"If he were dangerous he would have attacked you in the woods," the boy- Logan- turned back to him, "continue"

Virgil looked down at the notepad and pen before pressing them together. 'I'm selectively mute.' He turned the paper to them.

"If you're selectively mute then you can select to speak," Prince Roman said.

Virgil glared at him, "Not exactly Roman. Many people who choose to be mute do it because they struggle with anxiety or other mental health disorders, it is a technique that helps them. It could also be a religious choice. Whatever the reason is, we should respect it unless given a reason not too. We have found a way to communicate so there should be no issues." Logan looked at Roman as he spoke, there was no disrespect in his voice but Virgil was surprised they were so casual.

Roman glared at Virgil before nodding, "Fine. What's your name then?"

'I'm not giving my name. Names hold power

"You know our names," Patton said

'I don't speak'

Roman took a step towards the black bars and Virgil backed away from them, "Than what may we call you?" Logan said, placing a hand on Roman's shoulder.

Virgil thought for a minute, 'Ann'

"Ann? Isn't that a girl's name?" Roman asked

'Ann is short for Anxiety. It is my trait name.' He was starting to like this prince less and less every time he spoke.

"What's a trait name and why is it so weird?" Roman asked.

"Roman, a trait name is a name given to a citizen of the Dark Realm on their thirteenth birthday. It describes their defining trait and helps to explain to others who they are. It is a very important part of their culture." Logan explained. Virgil was once again surprised by him, how had he known this?

Patton gasped, "Roman say sorry."

"What? No."

"You disrespected his culture twice. Say your sorry" Patton told him again.

Roman sighed, "I'm sorry." he said to Virgil. Virgil only nodded. "Fine then, Ann, why did you trespass past the Dark Realm?"

'It was an accident. I didn't want to come here.'

"Where did you want to go?" Roman asked

'I was just running' Virgil wrote

"Why?" Roman's voice was loud and Virgil looked up at him, meeting his eyes for just a moment before looking down. "Why were you running Ann?"

'I'm done' Virgil wrote and handed the notepad back to Logan. Did they not do it? They had to have done it? They were their enemies. It was a trick, it had to be, they were tricking him. They were the ones who attacked his castle.

The three of them were looking at him, Logan wasn't taking back his notepad. "Kiddo, we still have questions," Patton said. Virgil shook his head. Still, they didn't take the notepad. So Virgil threw it. It went between the bars and past the boys on the other side, stopping just short of the wall.

"That was unnecessary," Logan told him.

Virgil backed up until he hit the wall, sliding down until he was sitting. He didn't look at them as he brought his knees to his chest and covered his head with his arms. "Ann, why were you running?" Roman demanded. Virgil didn't move. "Was an animal chasing you?"

Nothing.

"Were you in danger?"

Virgil kept his head down.

"As prince of the Light Realm, I demand you tell us why you were running through our forest!" Roman yelled. Logan and Patton flinched, they knew that Roman hated using his position as prince to make people do things. Virgil's head shot up and he glared at Roman, slowly he pointed to a patch on his cloak where the Dark Realm emblem had begun to fall off. Even with no words and no signing it was easy to see what Virgil was saying.

Not my prince.