Nullspace Penitentiary is an impenetrable prison between the corporeal and incorporeal aspects of reality. No one has ever escaped because the jail itself is entirely nonexistent. In other words, it’s entirely beyond the realm of which Fate can be used to defy physics. For this prison was akin to limbo; devoid of color and reasoning.

A white space where everyone who resided within lazed about and dragged themselves across the ground. Except for one. The man strong enough to withstand the nothingness of his imprisonment, lying in wait with interlocked fingers and a lowered head. The only one capable of thinking while enchained: Apollo Moloch.

Meanwhile…

Uriel, coat swaying in the chilly summer winds, gazed up at the castle from a rooftop lower than the peak of the palace. His head lowered, and with a long sigh venting from his lips, his eyes finished closing.

Marie stepped back, shutting the door to the roof behind her. “Hey.”

“Yo,” At the sound of his sister’s voice, his head turned. “Couldn’t sleep?” He smiled.

She shook her head. “You neither, huh?”

“Of course not. The future weighs heavily on me.”

“As always.” The boxer inched closer, now standing beside him on the edge; both hands pocketed. “But uh, whaddya mean specifically?”

“Ten years ago, I could never even fathom something like this. I followed the rules like a good Prince all my life and I was rewarded for it. Being the lapdog of the King was great and if I’d never been sent on that mission, I still would’ve been beside him. Or rather, not just him, but…”

Marie’s yellow eyes briefly darted to her brother’s face, spotting the sadness painted all over. Her attention diverted to the castle above them. The past came flooding in like chaotic waves rustling through the ocean; childhood in which she was so obviously ignorant and powerless. Her shoulders rose, then with one deep breath, they sunk back into the darkness of her skin.

“Do you hate him?” She asked.

Looking down at the city below, Uriel shrugged. “Dunno. You?”

“Same,” Marie said. “Well, actually, not really. I do resent him for something. But then again, it doesn’t really matter anymore to begin with.”

The shortness of her snowy strands flowed in front of her face while her bright and sunny eyes reflected the flickering lights of the kingdom below her. With chilly air blowing onto her, she blinked but once before she fell onto her rear and sat upon the ledge. Amid the silence between the siblings, Marie laughed.

Uriel sniffled, curiously glancing down at her.

“Y’know, when I was younger, I never thought my distant big brother would ever share his feelings with me. You were always so busy, whether it be with Dad or Tal or Aella. I always saw you through my eyes. Nothing more. Nothing less. Honestly, it’s kinda like a dream come true for me—you and I—being like this.”

Listening to the past she retold, the Prince crouched, sat and dangled his legs off of the verge next to her.

From the repetitive honking of vehicles shooting down the road, to the occasional yelling of pedestrians, there was something spectacular to distract their attention from the drabness of the people dwelling within their city. Starting with the expanded metropolis of lights indented over the horizon to the structure towering behind it all and scraping the edge of the clouds. The King’s Castle. A spectacle like this, shared with someone like her, made for an unforgettable memory. One Uriel hoped Marie would cherish. Sparing a quick look at her face, the Prince was taken aback, by how completely starstruck his sister was in the face of the beauty of the city bathing their faces completely in golden light.

While tears threatened to burst out from the corners of her eyes, Marie couldn’t resist the urge to sniffle and wipe her nose, glancing down with a nervous chuckle. That was Uri smiled. Wrapping an arm around his younger sister’s neck, he pulled her close so she could rest against him, while they did nothing but gawk at the city oozing of lights and wonder for what seemed like eternity.

Within the warmth of familial love, the girl’s vibrant eyes grew heavier. Before she could resist the final push of grogginess urging her to sleep, a final question slipped off her lips, and spoke into the air.

“Hey, Uri. How did you come back to life anyway?”

Hanging off the rooftop overlooking Barronia’s masses, Uriel stared ahead—constrained white hair breaking from the tie to fleetingly fly beside and before his face. To that question, the Prince had….

“I have no idea.”

No answer.

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May 15th, 2022. Evening.

The gate to Nullspace was locked behind a vault with multiple Fate user knights and monstrous Displacements stationed throughout numerous box-shaped mechanical corridors.

Entrance without clearance is impossible. However, the guards have grown lazy. Though they wield insurmountable strength in the form of Fate energy, most knights don’t even wear their helmets as they smoke and play cards in the wide corridor they were stationed in.

At the very first hall, an armored man with a beard looked up from the pile of cards he was crouched in front of and released a sigh of disbelief as his colleagues laughed in response. Sitting upright and removing the cigarette from his mouth, he pointed to the loner idle in the left corner and leaning against the vault to the second corridor—helmet hiding the contents of their face.

“What’s up with them?” He asked.

His buddy glanced behind them, then shrugged. “Who cares? Must be a newbie. We all got first-day jitters, y’know?”

“Tch, what’s the point?” The armored man vented smoke from his mouth and stuck the cig back between his lips. “Nothing ever happens here anyhow…”

While he returned to playing cards with the rest of his friends, underneath the loner’s helmet, dark green pupils darted around—continuously scanned the layout of the room.

Finally, he shut his eyes and sighed deeply. Standing up from the wall with a lance in one hand, he started walking toward the exit.

Across from the wall he previously slouched on opened another stone wall, revealing an elevator within that opened at the recognition of the knight’s retinas. Only seconds after stepping into the chamber did the door shut before him, the fake wall following suit. Yanking the helmet from his skull, the knight vented a sigh of relief, showing his messy black hair and dark green gaze.

“God, how do they breathe in these things?” Talen asked through panting breaths.

Cracking his neck, then his knuckles, the lawyer threw his arms into the air—enjoying the sound of all individual joints satisfyingly following suit. Pushing two fingers to his head, he tapped the device lodged into his earlobe.

“You guys hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Tal.””

“Remind me again why we’re not all knights on the same shift.”

Tal tore the metal sleeve from his left arm. “If Uriel’s truly looking for Violators as teammates, it’s indisputable he’d seek out Nullspace as his prime target. And if he does invade, there’s no doubt he’d sense us almost immediately. We should split apart for this one.”

Tony removed the hand from his ear, turning to Alora. “Meaning we’re left to remain on alert.”

She scoffed. “Let’s take a break. He’s gonna be doing his own thing anyway.“

“Sure that’s a good idea? I mean, do I get anything out of it?” He teased through the helmet.

Alora started to walk. “Depends on what you want.” She continued walking, holding the spear over her shoulder.

From a stalker’s overhead view, everything seemed normal; the two lonely knights walking down the vacant concrete path bordered by the grass leading to the castle entrance under the gradually-setting sun. Crouched on his knee and leaning over the edge of the building, Uriel peeking above the wall bordering the castle from the rest of the city, specifically squinting at the duo knights.

Just then, he dropped from the summit and landed flat on the ground before them, trench coat perpetually swaying with the wind behind him. Alora and Anthony’s silver helmets reflected the menacing form of the white-haired mastermind in the guise of their former friend.

Tony’s red eye violently quivered. ‘That’s—!’

‘Uriel…’

Long black coat moving with the wind in tandem with his hair, Uriel pointed two fingers at Alora and Anthony.

“You two are abnormally strong for entrance guards. Did you know we were coming?”

Alora scoffed. ‘If we blow our cover, Uriel will know Talen came! If both of them know the other is here, that spells disaster for our mission! Ugh, what a troublesome situation. So what should we do? I can’t risk revealing my technique, he’ll recognize it the second I invoke my aura. If I’m forced to remain idle, I can only hope Tony can come up with an ideal solution!’

Tony stepped forward. “Prince Barron, we thought you were dead! What’s happening here, Your Highness?”

The Prince’s eyebrow quirked.

Alora’s throat cleared before she corrected her hunched stature at the sound of Tony’s voice.

Uriel nodded. ‘A diplomatic solution is always ideal.’ He raised his right hand and grinned.

“I’ve come to take the throne! If you wish to stand in my way, remain there—I have no qualms disposing of ants! But if you believe in my rule as King, stand with me against my father’s idiotic use of the all-powerful Crown!”

Without hesitation, the farcical knights stepped forward.

“We’ll join you, Angelic Prince Barron!!”

Uriel scoffed. “Yeah, alright.”

Reluctant to waste any more time, he turned around and marched ahead—allowing Alora and Anthony to follow him from behind while occasionally glancing at one another. Merely from sharing knowing glimpses, the knights concluded that any possible moment before they reached the castle entrance would be the best moment to ambush the Prince!

Then, Uriel stopped. Tony and Lora did the same.

“Is something wrong, sire?” Lora asked.

“Not really, I’d just like you to answer a question.” Uriel turned and pointed at his shoulders. “Can you see these things?”

Glaring deep into their faces were none other than the conformed embodiment of Heaven’s divine angels—each blessed with four wings and two heads. The unfathomable amount of eyes spread across the divine creatures’ wings simultaneously blinked once locking gazes with the knights’ helmeted cheeks.

The mastermind smirked, turning to face them fully with one hand pocketed.

“So you can. As you know, causality is always at its strongest when a high risk of death lingers near. It’s one of Fate’s greatest principles. High risk, high reward. That’s the way the world operates.”

Before either could react, they both received a punch in the chest, sending them flying back to where they once stood. Unfortunately upon landing, both of their helmets came off—revealing their appearances behind that lousy armor. Uri stifled laughter.

“Anthony Whitlock and Alora Illustrious. What a blast from the past. It’s so nice to see you two again.”

Tony tore the metal off his chest and pushed himself upright at the same time Alora opened her hands and summoned the shape of her bladed familiars.

“If only we could say the same about you…”