The prison yards were located two kilometers off of Axria’s East Outer Zone. Surrounded by walls over ten meters high and a 50-meter deep moat, escape from the complex seemed impossible for anyone who was unfortunate to be locked up inside. The only entrance inside was a single gate with a narrow bridge to connect it to the other side, which could be drawn back in case of a prison break. As expected on a prison complex, it was heavily guarded both inside and outside with men on full gear, and it was almost always brightly illuminated with large fire tongues of misteria origin.

Julius’ carriage arrived at the prison entrance in the middle of the night, with four guards watching its arrival as they stood guard at the entrance.

The coachman halted the carriage at the signal of the chief front guard, the other two surrounded the vehicle for inspection. The door was opened by the coachman, revealing the passenger inside.

“Welcome, your Excellency. I assume you’re here for the new prisoner,” the chief guard greeted, showing his respect by bowing his head down.

“Yes, please. I want to see him before I go,” Julius answered.

The chief guard then made a hand signal to the last guard, which then informed the other two to let the carriage pass through. He pulled the lever that opened the gigantic wooden gateway, and the coachman slowly made the sleipnir trot through. As the Emissary passed them, the four guards stood on a salute.

The bridge seemed to be structurally compromised, but it held on to the weight of the carriage pretty well. The other gate, now made of steel, slowly opened upon their arrival, in which the prison’s head of security was revealed to be waiting for them inside.

After the carriage had stopped, the coachman immediately got off his seat to once again open the door to let the Emissary out.

“Ah, your Excellency. It’s an honor to be visited with someone of your caliber. I assure you, as long as your presence is here, the security of this place will be at---“

Before the head of security could finish, though, the Emissary walked past him as if he did not see anyone at all. This move angered him, but because of Julius’ rank, he could not say anything and had no choice but to let it slide.

“I understand that you want to see our new addition here, but can you please wait here for a---,“ the head of security tried to speak again, but failed again to finish his sentence.

“I don’t have much time. I’m going in,” the Emissary said, marching his way towards the complex.

Seeing Julius ignore him for the last time, the head of security’s fury was on its peak. He called one guard with a hand signal and mumbled something to that guard’s ear. The guard then discreetly followed the Emissary as he entered the facility.

The complex comprised of three levels. The top building was occupied by inmates with light sentences, from simple theft to recklessness resulting in major injuries. Beneath it was the first level basement, where prisoners with heavier sentences were kept. Almost devoid of sunlight, the whole floor was lit with torches that made the aura inside feel gloomy and lifeless. Here, the ones with murder and rebellion on their names were kept, away from the surface, with only despair left on their souls.

But Julius kept on moving down to the second level basement. Unlike the two levels above it, this floor seemed more modern in design, having steel-like walls and bars on each holding cell. That place was reserved for dealing with special cases, in which the stranger fitted in perfectly. The Emissary walked on the long hallway until he arrived at the cell where Noire was kept, a somewhat upbeat hum filled the empty area and got louder as he went nearer the cell.

He then touched the solid wall, which became transparent in an instant, letting him see the person confined inside.

The boy acted nothing like one would do when imprisoned. He was relaxed, lying down on the only raised object in the cell, a long wooden plank attached to the wall with chains. The tune in which he hummed was unfamiliar with Julius, yet the Emissary somewhat enjoyed listening to it. As he hummed, Noire waved his hands in the air like a conductor in a musical performance, rattling the shackles and chains in which he was restrained.

“Is it time for dinner already? At least give me some meat, that would be nice,” Noire spoke, feeling a presence other than his own.

Julius sat down on the floor on a cross-legged position, then answered the boy in a soft tone.

“Well, you’ll be disappointed then. I forgot to bring you anything when I decided to visit you.”

Hearing the familiar voice, Noire got up and took a look at his visitor.

“Ah, it’s you from up there. What, you’re here to execute me?” he asked with a smirk.

The emissary giggled, and then continued to talk.

“Oh no, not at all. I absolutely have no intention of doing such things, specially to someone like you. I’m just here to talk, I swear.”

“I see. Well, I already guessed that you’re not a person who decides on a whim. If ever, I feel more like you’re a schemer.”

“Now, now. That one just struck broke my heart. Am I really that obvious to you?” Julius asked in a playful way.

Noire sat down in front of Julius, his black eyes focused entirely on the Emissary.

“Yes and no,” he answered. “The fact that you’re so hard to read on first glance made me think that, to be honest.”

Julius, hearing the boy’s answer, laughed so loud it filled the entire level with his voice.

“Now back to the topic. What is it that you want to talk about?” Noire asked, making the Emissary stop laughing.

Getting something from inside his tunic, Julius said, “I want to show you something first.”

After getting a hold of the item, he pulled it out and gave it to Noire, which was pleasantly surprised at what he saw.

“That is you, correct?” Julius asked, pointing at the picture displayed in the glass tablet.

The glass tablet contained information about Noire Arklight, complete with a picture of him from the pre-Catastrophe era. The boy skimmed through the data, seemingly checking on its contents, stopping only when it got to the area with a CONFIDENTIAL warning written all over it.

“Yes, this is me. Wow, the damned twins outdid themselves again with data storage. This even surviving that amount of dimensional warping? I really got to congratulate them when I see them again!” Noire exclaimed as he continued to inspect the glass tablet.

“By the way, is this Paladinus tech?”

“Yeah. One of numerous proof of our vast scientific achievements,” Julius proudly answered.

Noire’s focus was shifted entirely on the glass tablet, trying to guess the inner workings of that piece of technology. Feeling the glass display with his right hand, he constantly looked at its front and back sides, with emphasis to the two metal holders which supported the top and bottom part of the glass. After a while, he gave it back to Julius which hid it back inside his tunic.

“Interesting. It seems that your scientists have understanding of plasma. Seeing that made my initial analysis of the current workings of this universe partially complete,” he said to Julius with a beaming smile on his face.

“And what is it?” Julius asked in curiosity.

Noire stood up and walked towards the opposite end of the wall, then turned back to face Julius from afar.

“This universe isn’t that different from the previous one. The laws of science, the flow of misteria, everything. It’s basically the same.”

“I see that you’re more of a man of science,” the Emissary commented.

“Not really,” Noire disagreed, “I think I’m more of an in-between.”

“So you believe in the mystics as well?”

“Yes. Just because you can’t visually see them doesn’t mean that they’re not there, right?” Noire answered.

Satisfied with the answer that he got, Julius stood up, removing the wrinkles that his tunic made when he sat down.

“So, what are you planning now?” he asked Noire.

The question has hit Noire hard. It made him think for a while, then he spoke to Julius in a cheery tone.

“This may sound like it came on a whim, because it is, but I’ll do an around the world trip and tell the history of the pre-Catastrophe civilization. This generation of Earth-dwellers still deserve to know their ancestry and the legacies of the past, after all.”

Hearing the boy’s answer, Julius could not help himself and accidentally let a scoff, which embarrassed Noire.

“What!? Are you mocking me now?” Noire said, quite irritated.

“Not in the slightest. In fact, I kind of admire you now,” the Emissary replied, preparing himself for departure.

“Is that so. Well, before you go, I’ve got one question for you.”

“Oh, let me guess. Is it my motives as to why I talked to you like this?” Julius spoke as he got another item on his tunic, but when he was about to pull the item, the boy spoke to him.

“Not exactly. What I want to ask is your purpose with that key?”

His intent now revealed, Julius held the large keycard and showed it to the boy.

“I’m giving you a way out. You know, for your plans.”

Julius was met by Noire’s stares, the boy dubious of the Emissary’s course of actions. Noire walked towards him, eyes still locked on his entirety.

“But is that really it? Is there really no catches on this?”

“Hahaha. I guess anyone would be immediately suspicious. All right, I’ll say my proposal,” the Emissary answered as he approached Noire and whispered something to him.

After letting Julius finish his proposal, Noire thought for a bit, then gave him his answer.

“Well, I can do your request, but to be honest with you, I don’t need that key.”

“Huh?” Julius said in surprise.

Taking two steps back from the barrier, Noire raised his left hand to a shoulder height, and after that, the shackle which held his wrist began to move on itself, the bolt gradually loosening its hold until it fell of the floor and making a loud ping. Then, with the newly released left hand, Noire got ahold of the right wrist shackle and basically ripped it off. Finally, he touched the invisible barrier with the same left hand, which then became opaque just like before, and forcing it to make a huge hole in which he passed through with ease, all the while being watched by an ecstatic Julius.

“See? No keys,” Noire smugly said.

Julius was shaken to the core, saying, “But those…those shackles have voidstones imbedded in them. And the wall, it’s made of pure voidmetal, how did you...”

The boy laughed as he tapped the Emissary’s shoulders and put his right index finger on his lips.

“That’s a trade secret. No worries, I’m going to accept your request, anyway, so there’s that,” he said as he took the keycard out of a still shocked Julius’ hand.

“How…how did you…”

Noire sighed deeply as they noticed that the elevator moved downwards towards their level.

“There’s our way out. Come on, I got a plan,” the boy told Julius, which then got out of his shock.

They walked the corridor, passing through all the empty cells with haste. Just as they arrived at the elevator door, though, the lift arrived and opened the door, revealing the occupants inside.

What greeted the two are guns pointed at their faces by four individuals in black bodysuits and helmets.

“What’s the meaning of this?” one of them spoke, the voice was clearly feminine as they pondered what to do next.