- A Regretful Man In The Dungeons Pt 2 -

                                    

                                          
Thiago was easy enough to find - with Beth, of course, both taking their break for the midday to sit by the water's edge. Therefore it felt rude to disturb their peace. 
I decide to go down to see Viren myself. 
Now, if this was my subconscious plan from the start, I'm unsure. Perhaps Thiago being on break is not me being a nice person, but more truthfully being a sneaky person. Yet I shouldn't hide the fact that I'm going to Viren from Soren. There is just something that compels me to that cell. 
Half of me - the realisic part of me - thinks it might be Aaravos' allure that will drag me to those depths. 
Yet the other half? The hopeful optimist inside of me wonders if Viren is as guilty as people are saying. It wonders if he has changed. 
Thus, I grab his food from Susane in the kitchens and make my way towards the stairwell. I walk casually past Jonathan at the top before descending. "Hayley, please give us a moment," I request of the girl guarding him. 
Viren immediately perks up at the sound of my voice. He waits until Hayley leaves and then choses to come to the bars to see me. "(Y/n), I thought I wouldn't see you," Viren says in greeting. The square that allows little sunlight into the space lets me get a good look at the man. 
Dare I say, but there is something happy in that expression of his. Certainly he is no longer unresponsive. Nor does his skin crackle like dark magic flows in his viens. I would describe Viren as looking normal, but I have never seen him this... calm? Even that is not the right word for it. 
He looks human.
"I thought the same," I choose to say. Originally, I was not going to come here. I could have gone the rest of my life without seeing this man. Skies, I wanted to kill this man. 
Although here I am, sliding food into his cell. 
"Why... are you here?" Viren wonders. He doesn't touch the plate or the freshly filled bread roll that sits on top of it. 
I think for a moment. My legs do not pull me closer towards the bars. No, I am very content standing a few meters away. But he asks a good question. "Because the last time I saw you, you were a lifeless husk whose only words to me were mournful grief over your son," I reply. 
Viren sighs heavily. He retreats a couple seats before sitting in defeat on the singular bench in his cell. "I am sorry," Viren speaks.
The statement catches me off guard and I can manage is a "hmm?" in response. 
"I have done things no father should do," Viren explains. Still, the words do not make sense. I wonder for a moment if he has tried to apologise to his son. Soren has not spoken about it. "I have done things no person should ever do." Viren's words become so quiet that I'm unsure if he says anything after that sentence. 
There is one question on my mind so I step forward in order to ask it. "So, Aaravos did in fact mind control you?" If this man has done so many terrible things, it must be something beyond his control?
"No," Viren clarifies. Okay... so he is just a psycho? "Not at first, at-least," he chuffs. There is nothing humoured in his tone of voice, more so an emptiness that I struggle to analyse. "Maybe not ever..." he theorises. I assess Viren's condition in silence for a minute. Whether or not he is comfortable with the lack of talking, I can't tell. Until finally Viren speaks again. "I have never felt this much guilt," he says, before adding: "Well, maybe once."
I'm compelled to tell him how I understand guilt. Yet that doesn't feel right, not with Soren unknowing that I am here. "Right," is all that rolls off my tongue. It is much more bitter than I intended, but I don't hate the fact that it lands that way.