The trio's journey came to a sudden end after being outsmarted by Captain Sylvia and her luminaries, resulting in their arrest. It was a long-awaited conclusion, though none of them anticipated being caught in a web of confusion, betrayal, mystery, and fiascos.

Once captured, their belongings were confiscated, and their clothing was replaced with oversized, ragged brown shirts and pants, along with pairs of uncomfortable boots. They were then sent with a convoy, confined to the back of a cage wagon, left with nothing but shame, regret, and an overwhelming sense of dread as they pondered their next move. Fatigue had overtaken them since their arrival into this world, causing them to gaze hopelessly at the sky as the cold breeze stung their faces, hands, and barely covered necks.

After three grueling days on the road, the convoy came to an abrupt halt near the town of Hilltop. The trio was then forced out of the wagon, chained together by their wrists, hips, and ankles, and accompanied by Ray and James on horseback. Captain Sylvia dismounted and joined the trio on foot, binding her right arm to the chain gang.

The wind was biting, and the dark clouds were overcast as the trio marched miserably for miles without end. Hunger and coldness tormented them, causing them to consider various ways to escape, but to no avail. They were unable to communicate with one another and were not even fit to fight a butterfly, resigning themselves to their fate. The sight of a cast stone establishment rising from the horizon, surrounded by spikes and guarded by dog-faced luminary guards armed with bows, marked the end of their freedom. The only opening in the walls was a large, heavy wooden gate.

As the gate opened, the guards inside glared sourly at the trio as they stepped into their new home, the Central Luminary Penitentiary. The trio glanced at the guards before turning their attention to the prisoners in the field, some of whom returned their gaze with malevolent stares. They recognized several of them.

Ray and James unchained the trio and escorted them towards the cellars, which were deep underground, dark, wet, and reeked of a hideous stench that assaulted their noses and eyes. The trio was then driven to the far corner of the cellars, an empty block with nothing but rats and insects.

Ray and James pushed each of the trio into their cell, all of them aligned next to each other in the same row. As the keys locked the cell door shut, the trio finally breathed a deep sigh of relief after an exhausting journey. However, the harsh reality of their situation washed over them, leaving them in a state of deep depression and contemplation.

The cellars grew dark as the cells fell quiet, not a sound to be heard. It was night. How later into the night they didn't know. Regardless, it wasn't a time for contemplation, the trio needed to rest if they wanted a chance of surviving for another day.

Although Joel closed his eyes and laid his back on the makeshift wooden bed, he still couldn't catch a wink of sleep. His mind was racing, his stomach was empty and aching, and his breaths were short and unfulfilling. He sat on the bed before stepping towards the iron bars of the cell, sitting on the cold hard ground in a fetal position.

"I knew you were awake," came Mik's soft whisper from the cell next to him.

"I too had a hunch," he replied, smiling faintly.

The two boys sat close to the bars that separated them, with only a few inches of stone wall between them. They mirrored each other's fetal position, and if not for the barrier, they could have leaned on each other's backs.

"Does this feel familiar to you?" Joel asked.

"Kinda, yeah. Prison isn't a new thing for me." Mik responded, "But it feels worse. Back home, I got locked up due to my own fuck ups, alone, and that was alright. I never really cared. But to drag you along with me…it stings like a bitch. I'm sorry, bro."

"Don't be." Joel shook his head, "I mean, yeah. It is kinda your fault. But we did too much crazy shit, it was a long time coming. And hey, it's just a little mishap, we'll pull through."

"Yeah…" Mik replied, "It's just prison. I've escaped from dozens of them, it'll be a breeze."

The two boys were silent. Joel gazed at the ground for a moment, a melancholic feeling washing over him before he spoke.

"You sound unmotivated."

"Didn't know you were a detective." Mik chuckled.

"I was a lawyer, I can tell when people are lying after all. You were never really that good at it."

"Yeah…I am unmotivated." Mik sighed, "I'm a little scared, you know. I don't want this to turn out like back home. I genuinely want to believe that this chance we have will mean something, but it's far too similar to our lives back then. Even if we escape, then what? It feels pointless. We fell face-first into a rabbit hole that was far too big for us. Pterodactyls? Luminaries? Renegades? Give me a break. It hasn't even been a month, yet here we are. From one mistake into another. Every day is a struggle to survive and I even forgot why we were reincarnated here to begin with. I wanted us to finally be happier. Live stress-free, or at least just be a little less stressed. I'm getting sick of this constant struggle, this awful luck, and this godforsaken existence. I always wished to be reincarnated into another world, but this is not what I wanted."

"I know…I know. I guess it's the one rule of existence, suffering will always be there no matter where." Joel responded, melancholically. "But hey, that's life. It's not like we didn't go through this before. Hell, we went through much worse, remember? The only difference is that this world has superpowers or magic or whatever. It's just life but…weirder. And you can't deny that we had some fun moments after all. We might be in prison, yeah, but it's not the end. We're still alive, we still got each other like we always did. We've been through tougher situations, and we've lived through much harder times. We can do it, we just have to keep believing in each other."

"Heh, your wisdom beats me." Mik chuckled, "But yeah, I agree. We just have to keep going. We're fighting for a heaven of ours, someplace where we can finally do everything we've dreamt of…but man, you know what's my dream now?"

"Yeah?"

"Pão de queijo. A buttload of Pão de queijo. I really wish I could have a plate. No, a bucket. A KFC-sized bucket of Pão de queijo. That tasty cheesy goodness. God, I would kill for it."

"Here's hoping that they do have some in this prison." Joel laughed, "Though, I'd prefer just a plain steak right now. Yeah, just something simple. Or an egg sandwich, or a grilled cheese sandwich. Oh, how about ice cream?"

"Dear lord, that's not even a question. I would kill for even a vanilla ice cream."

"I'm sure you're just giving excuses to kill right now."

"Yeah, I'd prefer killing for an ice cream than just the ice cream."

"Pffft, never change, Miki."

The two boys were silent once again as they reminisced a time when they ate their favorite food whenever they pleased. A time far too long ago, far before they experienced the displeasures of life and the taste of suffering.

"Is Dolisia awake?" Mik wondered.

"I don't think so. If she was, she would have told us to quiet down."

"Yeah, that is like her." Mik agreed. The boy sat silently as he gazed at the wall for a moment. "Hey, Joel…I've been meaning to ask you this but never got the chance."

"Yeah?"

"…How do you feel about Dolisia?"

"Dolisia? Well…I did feel strange about her at one point. I mean, she complains too much, gets angry too much, talks too much, and…she really acts like a hassle a lot of times. Like, she really can be a hell of a pain in the ass."

"True, true."

"But…I don't think I can continue the journey without her. Well, at least not that easily."

"…true." Mik whispered in agreement, "I don't know, she just feels like…like—"

"Like an older sister."

"…yeah…spot on."

"Although she's whinny, drinks a lot and whatever…she still has done a lot of stuff for us. I mean, I still can't tell whether that stuff was really for us or just for her…but she's a good person. She has that aura that a big sister has…y'know? That stern or plainly rude attitude all the time that carries some gentleness with it, a deep and barely lit spark of kindness under a void of endless attitude."

"Yeah…she reminds me of someone…she reminds me of—"

"Her." The two boys uttered in unison.

Mik and Joel fell into a moment of melancholic silence as the memories of a time long past flashed before their eyes. They smiled nostalgically before gazing sorrowfully at the roof of their cells. They reminisced a time when they lived a life filled with joy, a special time with a bunch of special people, a bunch who once existed—not just the memories of them.

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"It feels good to get this out of my chest. It felt like it was choking me out of breath. Thanks, Jo."

"Same for me, Miki." Joel replied, "Fist bump?"

"Did ya have to ask?"

The two boys extended their arms from the iron bars before they bumped each others' fists. Joel stood up and wiped the dust off his clothes as Miki followed with the same.

"We need to rest if we want a shot at surviving tomorrow or the day after."

"Yeah…" Mik agreed, "Night, Joel."

"Sweet dreams."

Although their conversation was fairly quiet, it was still audible near their cells, and so was the case for a seemingly asleep Dolisia. Although she was laying on her left side in a fetal position, she was by no means asleep. She was able to overhear most of the duo's conversation. As it came to a halt, Dolisia contemplated for a moment before she rolled onto her right side, facing the wall.

She was hopeless about their situation. But maybe, just maybe, there was some hope for them. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Maybe…it wasn't a mistake to accompany them after all.

…

The iron bars of the cell echoed a noise that knocked the trio from their well-deserved sleep into the harsh reality of life, particularly so for Mik. As he lazily opened his eyes with a frown plastered on his face, his vision cleared up at the sight of a luminary guard banging on the bars with an iron rod.

"Rise and shine, you bastards!" He spoke with a tone of vengeful pleasure, "It's a new day of your eternal suffering!"

Unfortunately, the face was far too familiar, especially for Mik. Although the face wasn't much of a hint, the bandage on the nose was a dead giveaway. It was the luminary from the first town the trio was in, the luminary that Mik knocked out.

Upon such a realization, Mik couldn't help but utter one sentence:

"Oh, you gotta be shitting me!"

Although the trio was woken up early at around dawn, they weren't allowed to perform any kind of activity nor even exit their cells for a moment to catch their breaths. As for meals, they could only be served lunch. Apparently, they didn't have the right to "Special Treatment". That aside, it is also most likely due to the luminary that Mik punched a while ago, for he was every bit as bitter about it, if not more. And he certainly didn't shy away from expressing his displeasure at the incident, for he rubbed salt at the wound whenever he could with cheap insults or provocative gestures.

As the clock struck noon, the trio were finally escorted out of their cells—same as all the prisoners at lunchtime. They marched down the dark hall and out of the cellars towards another hall that led to a vast, dimly lit space with a few windows at each wall. It was filled to the brim with rows of long wooden tables with a dozen seats at each. The space was also comprised of two double doors, both guarded by stone-faced luminaries.

By the time the trio reached the room, tens of inmates already occupied most of the tables. Some were eating freshly cooked steak, some were clothless down to their underwear and munching on moldy bread while others were rounded up on a table playing cards with dozens of Coe coins laid in front of them.

By orders of the luminaries guarding them, the trio marched towards a long line of inmates, rounded up on an equally long counter. They copied what the others did and fetched a prickly wooden tray along with a bowl and a wooden spoon. They stood along with the line and awaited their turn for, presumably, their food rations.

"Oh, yeah! This is a canteen!' Mik exclaimed.

Joel and Dolisia turned towards Mik with bewildered and disappointed expressions before the former spoke up:

"You just realized that?" Joel questioned.

"What? Why didn't you guys say anything?"

"Cause it's obvious? Hello?" Dolisia added, "Inmates gathered in the same room eating food, doesn't that ring a bell? You're literally the only one of us that went to prison and you're the last to realize?"

"Well, excuse me for not being so fond of those memories that I'd remember a prison canteen when I see one." Mik defended himself.

Joel shook his head. "Mik, it's a Pavlovian response. You enter a room with lunch trays, a long line, and a bunch of miserable people eating and wishing they were dead. What did you expect it to be?"

"Highschool?"

"No-…" Joel stood silent, contemplating the answer before nodding his head in response. "Fair enough."

Before the trio could indulge in their conversation further, the sound of a grotesque splat interrupted Joel. As he turned around to face the source, his eyes fell upon the bowl on his tray, now filled to the brim with, apparently, cold and old brown beans and a piece of hard and chewy burnt bread.

Dolisia and Mik were quickly served the same ration by a tall, sweaty, long-bearded man holding a wooden scoop in one hand as the other picked his nose. He was dressed in a dirty white apron and an even dirtier brown shirt underneath. He eyed the trio nonchalantly as he picked a booger out of his nose before casually wiping it on his apron.

"Joel…" Mik gagged, nearly vomiting. "I want to die."

"Funny, I was just gonna ask you to kill me." Joel replied.

"Yeah, that Magnum would have been really useful right now." Dolisia chimed in.

"God…" Joel sighed, "Just…forget you ever saw this, let's just eat and hope the beans will kill us soon."

"Agreed." Dolisia followed.

"Uh-huh." Mik finished.

However, just as the trio was moving up the line, the canteen worker served a ration of freshly cooked steak onto the next inmate's bowl, leaving the trio in a state of shock and silent rage as their eyes darted between the lunch worker and the inmate.

"What?" The inmate wondered.

"Are you tickling my tushy-hole with a feather?!" Joel fumed, "Why does he get a steak while we get a bowl of cold squirrel balls?!"

"Actually," Dolisia retorted, yanking the shoulder of the inmate in front of them. "Why does he get hot rations while we get gourmandized vomit?!"

"Yow go' complaints?" The lunch man antagonized in a thick accent.

"Do we need to make it more obvious?" Mik sarcastically added.

"Well, listen up, lad," the man said, "Yow don' pay, yow don' get shite. Off with ya, before I dip me balls in ye bowl to give ya a li'l extra taste, am I clear?"

"Tch, asshole." Joel whispered in contempt, "Let's go, guys. His existence is enough of a punishment to himself."

As the trio stepped away from the line, they made their way towards one of the tables at the far corner of the canteen, a particularly empty table. They sat down, Joel and Dolisia sitting side by side as Mik sat facing Joel. Regardless of how disgusted they felt, the hunger gnawing at their stomachs overwhelmed their repulsive senses.

As they chewed on bits of bread along with the cold beans, Mik suddenly asked:

"Hey, this is a prison, right?" Mik wondered.

"Yeah?" Joel answered.

"So…why is Dolisia in here?"

Although it went unspoken, the question, in particular, was indeed a good one, which left both Joel and Dolisia in a state of deep contemplation and sudden realization.

"That's a damn good question that I don't know the answer to." Dolisia replied.

"Wait, did they check you?" Mik asked, "No…you can't possibly be a…man? Right?"

"What? No, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm not buying it unless I check." Mik followed up.

"What?! Do I look like a man to you?!" Dolisia snarled.

"Hey, I'm just being cautious here." Mik explained, "After all, even Mr. Detective here—"

"Lawyer!" Joel corrected.

"Yes, as God almighty here said, 'lawyer'. But as I was saying, even Mr. Lawyer here fell into a trap."

"A what?" Dolisia wondered in confusion.

"He dated a man dressed as a woman."

"I didn't fucking know!" Joel shouted, "What?! Did you want me to snoop around their crotch to find out?!"

"Yes, but you did find out…" Mik chuckled, "From their crotch!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP!"

"So you're gay?" Dolisia wondered.

"No, I'm not. Shut the fuck up. We didn't even kiss."

"But how could you not realize it's a man?" Dolisia asked, even more confused.

"Love does things, alright."

"Oh, so you ARE gay?" Mik intercepted.

"For the love of GOD! Let me finish the fucking lunch, please!" Joel yelled, "And I'm not gay, for fuck's sake!"

"Yeah, why are we even talking about this? I mean, we're literally being treated like trash in this penitentiary. No time out of the cell, awful food, awful treatment, why us?" Dolisia protested.

"Yeah, I don't think it's only us." Joel said, pointing at one of the practically naked prisoners munching bread in their underwear, "I don't know why he's pretty much naked, but it's apparently due to what that fat bastard said."

"Oh, about not paying?" Dolisia wondered.

"Paying? How the hell can we pay for anything, we're in prison?" Mik retorted.

Joel casually pointed at the men playing cards, "I think they have a gambling circle there. I mean, how else could they get all that Coe lying on the table?"

"So, gambling?" Dolisia thought, "They gamble to make money? What the hell could we gamble?"

"Well, we're not gonna." Joel explained, "Gambling is risky, and we have a lot to risk here already. You being a woman in this prison is enough of a pain in the ass for us. Actually, we're lucky no one's approached us yet, and I intend to keep it that wa–"

Before Joel could finish his sentence, he felt a hand tightly grip his shoulder. As the canteen fell silent, all eyes directed towards the trio's table, Joel knew of the severity of their situation. And as he glanced at Mik's serious glare, he knew who the confronter was.

"Well, if it ain't the freak and his sissy little boy." A voice spoke from behind, "And the bitch."

As Joel turned to face the man, his eyes fell upon a gang of inmates, apparently six grown men with a poorly drawn 'X' on their shirts. If the faces weren't enough of a hint, the 'X' was a dead giveaway. It was the templars—or at least a small group of them.

Despite the provocative insults, Joel simply turned to face Mik, shaking his head a no before scooping a spoonful of beans and minding his business. However, the templars didn't seem to back away as they encircled the trio.

"Ye got yourselves caught, eh? How'd that come to be?" The apparent leader of the group asked, "Did the luminaries finally see how disgusting you's are?"

"Aye, Dan." Another spoke, "How long's been since we saw a woman?"

"Dunno," He answered, "But long enough to get me excited! And aye, don't worry. We're not gonna hurt you, we'll protect you…if you give us something in exchange." He whispered as he gripped Dolisia's shoulder.

His response was met with the gang's approving snickers as they eyed Dolisia with a malicious glare. Mik raised his eyebrow as he eyed Joel with a particular look. Said look was only used by the boy whenever he wanted permission from Joel to 'Go crazy', and as Joel nodded approvingly, his permission was granted.

As he finished chewing a piece of bread, Mik held the bowl of beans before dashing it towards the man next to Joel. He grabbed the tray firmly before smashing it on the head of the man behind him. He then grabbed the man before he fell and threw him at the two men behind Dolisia.

He jumped over the table before snatching Joel and Dolisia's trays and smashing them on the two templar's heads. He eyed the remaining two templars and leaped towards them, drop-kicking the first before kicking the other between the legs. The only one standing was their leader, his face covered in cold beans as he eyed the trio in horror.

"Stay! Stay back! Don't come close to me!" He pleaded as he cowered in fear.

Mik couldn't help but smirk as the templar cowered in fear. "Looks like the 'freak and his sissy little boy' just kicked your asses," he quipped, "Maybe next time you should focus on making a more intimidating image than fighting like a bunch of sissies."

The other inmates in the canteen burst out laughing at Mik's witty remark, causing the templar to scurry away in embarrassment. Joel and Dolisia couldn't help but chuckle as well, impressed by Mik's quick thinking and humorous retort.

"Damn, I am kinda cool—"

But before he could bask in the greatness of his moment, four sharp-edged swords poked Mik's neck as the luminaries behind them glared coldly. Though he was not at fault for having been confronted, he did stir up a fuss that the luminaries did not excuse, and so:

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me…" He whispered as the luminaries chained his hands and took him away from the canteen, leaving Joel and Dolisia with no lunch around a pile of unconscious bodies.

Though it ended unfavorably for Mik, at least their limits were made clear to all the inmates, garnering them a reputation of not being messed with. The cafeteria went back to the ambient chatters as Joel and Dolisia nonchalantly gazed at Mik being taken away.

"Well…" Joel began, "Back to it already."

"Yep." Dolisia agreed.

"Wanna get more beans?"

"After you."

Thus, the trio was back to their usual tomfoolery once again.