The city of Grimharbor was one of Aizen's most well-known cities.

However, this was not due to its beautiful scenery, bountiful lands, friendly inhabitants, or rich cultural heritage. Rather, it was infamous for being a city built close to a certain facility — a certain facility that people who don't work there never want to go to.

Grimharbor Penitentiary.

The Aizen Kingdom's largest, and most well-guarded prison.

A place where people are sent to die, be it from execution or time. The only way out of Grimharbor Penitentiary was through immediate death and gradual death. And those who were fortunate — if one could call them that — enough to be dealt the latter, would all wish for oblivion to claim their souls even as early as possible.

The prison, built on a small island in the middle of the sea, was surrounded by violently churning waters that guaranteed a watery grave for even the most adept of swimmers. And guarding it were knights capable of wading across the air with ease. Each of these monstrous men and women patrolled the area around the prison, a sharp look in their eyes as they prepared to respond to any situation.

Despite its name, wrongdoers were not sent there to repent for their crimes, but to be punished for them. And it was well-known that even the most hard-boiled lawbreakers started to see the light just by thinking about being sent there.

This was Grimharbor Penitentiary — a place parents warned their misbehaving children about, in order to instill discipline and good behavior in them.

'Well, it's not like a whole lotta people are sent here in the first place... it's mostly just prisoners of war and stuff.'

Reivan sighed as he stepped out of the warp gate. He looked up, gazing upon the towering building he'd been frequenting for a while now.

On a tiny island that looked as if it was just a massive rock with the top part cut flat, was a massive tower that rose up into the sky. Seemingly made from obsidian, faint moonlight reflected off the tower's smooth surface. And as the waters around it churned violently, it stood straight up like a godly spear stabbed into the sea, undaunted and indifferent to its surroundings.

'I can't get used to how pretty it is...'

If Reivan had been more artistically inclined, he would've loved to make a painting out of this scene. Sadly, despite his dexterity, he was a horrible artist.

And in any case, since he was very well aware of the things that happened inside the place, Reivan couldn't help but feel like its beauty was disgusting.

"Shall we go, Your Highness?" Valter asked, standing behind him.

Reivan nodded. "Let's get this over with."

Since there wasn't a warp gate that led directly to the prison, or even to the island itself, they had to pass through the closest warp gate — which was the one at Grimharbor City's port.

As for the rest of the way, Valter could easily get them there in a second.

"As you wish."

With a bow of his head, a dark puddle of darkness spread out from the guardian knight's feet, engulfing him and the prince whole.

Despite how pitch black it was outside of the penitentiary, it was actually very bright within the tower itself. Every inch of every hallway was illuminated by glowing crystal orbs embedded into the ceiling. Furthermore, the walls were white, the floor was white, and even the doors were white.

All in all, it strained Reivan's eyes a little.

'I really wished they'd tone it down with all these damned lights...'

Still, since they were doing it to maintain maximum visibility, he supposed there was nothing he could do. After all, despite there being Ascendants — whose senses weren't hindered by darkness — guarding the tower, there were also ordinary wardens and other personnel that took care of doing all sorts of grunt work.

'It's still a bit excessive, but whatever.'

"THIS HUMBLE WARDEN GREETS THE SECOND PRINCE!"

Suddenly, Reivan had to stop thinking about how his eyes hurt because of the booming voice that threatened to burst his eardrums.

"Ah, yes... High Warden Zeke." Reivan smiled while massaging his right ear, which had taken the brunt of the damage. "Thank you for always welcoming me so warmly. You are truly an exemplary example of a public servant."

"THANK YOU! YOUR HIGHNESS!"

"However, I've repeatedly asked you to do something about your voice..."

"I AM WORKING ON IT!"

"... I see."

'So there's still no progress? My eardrums are crying...'

Reivan sighed while he examined the middle-aged warden in front of him.

Zeke was just as one would expect from a man who sounded like he had a megaphone magically fused with his throat — an absolute hulk of a man. Reivan didn't know the exact measurement, but he could roughly tell that Zeke was at least seven feet tall. And instead of looking lanky, the man had biceps that were as thick as a child's waist.

With a beaming smile on his face, Zeke bellowed, "I will strive to become an even better servant of the law!"

'And this is why I can't hate you, you loudmouthed bastard.'

Reivan suppressed another sigh, thinking that the pain in his eardrums would be a small price to pay to have such an enthusiastic worker under the nation's employ.

"I heard we caught one a few days ago." The second prince cut to the chase, as it was already quite late at night. "I'm sorry to rush you, but please guide me there."

"It would be my honor!" Zeke boomed, turning around and leading the way.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry I was late."

"Think nothing of it, Your Highness! It's not like we sleep a lot while we're in here!"

'No, uh... You should still try to get some sleep... It's unhealthy.'

Especially since the loud warden was just a mortal-realm warden, put in a leadership role only due to his dedication to the job. Diseases and other things were still a huge concern for people at the man's level.

Still, even if Reivan voiced his thoughts, he knew that the High Warden wouldn't heed them unless he worded it as an order. And there would also be a very loud back and forth where Zeke would repeatedly insist that he was okay.

As Reivan was having idle thoughts, they finally arrived.

"The prisoner is here, Your Highness!" Zeke gestured to the white door in front of them.

If one didn't look closely enough, one might they were looking at a wall. But in fact, there was a door in front of them, it was just very hard to notice because there were no gaps or handles. The only way to actually tell was to get used to where the doors were approximately placed — since they were placed in even intervals.

"Thank you, High Warden. We'll take it from here." Reivan smiled as he nodded to the dedicated man. "Please go about your normal duties."

"As you command!"

With a crisp salute that even Donovan would be proud of, Zeke marched down the snow-white halls, eventually disappearing from Reivan's sight after he turned a corner.

"Hm." Reivan, with an expression of indifference on his face, placed his palm against the hard-to-notice door.

A glowing line traced a circle around the part his hand was touching, before it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Then, after the sound of steel grinding against steel echoed across the hall, the door moved sideways to reveal a small room that could at most fit three grown men — and that's if they squeezed together.

"I'll try to make this quick." Reivan looked back and nodded to his guardian knight.

"Understood."

After a wave of farewell, Reivan stepped into the room that acted as a buffer zone between the prisoner's cell, and the prison's hallway. He placed his hand on the wall to the right, and the same thing as earlier happened, except this time, the door he'd passed through closed shut, locking him away from the light of the hallway and plunging him into darkness.

He didn't react at all though. Thanks to his elemental affinity for darkness, he could see perfectly well at the moment.

"Open," Reivan commanded.

A few moments passed before another door opened directly opposite the first one. Contrary to the hallway behind him, the room in front of him didn't have any light at all.

Nor was there any sound.

With an indifferent expression on his face, Reivan stepped into the darkness beyond.

Pacing around in his cell, Terrel couldn't help but bite his lip in anxiety. He even debated killing himself, but if he had the courage to do something like that, he wouldn't have gotten in with the wrong crowd and instead worked as a mercenary or a soldier.

'Damn it...!'

Even someone from the republic's underbelly knew about Grimharbor Penitentiary. And naturally, he wanted to be in here as much as the next guy, so he was visibly panicking about what he should do from now on.

Objectively speaking, his living conditions were much better than before he came.

Although his wardens were unfriendly, Terrel didn't have to worry about them slitting his throat or shoving their dicks in his mouth as he slept. And even if they were a bit bland, he still got three meals a day. There was even a clean toilet in the room with a water source, multiple sets of clothes, and a somewhat soft bed.

If it weren't for a few problems that made his cell a manifestation of hell on earth, Terrel wouldn't mind living here for a few months.

One problem was that it was dark.

Really dark.

Terrel could barely see, as the only source of light in the room was a tiny glass bead that erratically flew around the cell. In addition to providing very little illumination, it also ran away from him whenever he tried to get close to it. He couldn't even use it to light up what he wanted. It troubled him to no end whenever he had to take a crap.

Another problem he had was that it was quiet.

And no, this wasn't because the cells next door were quiet, and it definitely wasn't because he wasn't making any noise.

It was because the room literally silenced every sound before he could hear them.

He couldn't hear his own farts, his own curses, nor could he hear his own hysterical screaming. Not even the tearing at his own face with his nails.

Although it was a small respite, Terrl could hear the cracking of his own skull after he banged his head against the wall though. But it hurt too much to do it too often.

Terrel didn't know if it was because of magic or whatever, or if the wardens had literally stolen his ability to hear, but the perpetual silence was driving him insane.

'Or maybe I already am insane...?'

He'd tried to escape multiple times, but the only way out of the cell was up. Unfortunately, there weren't enough things to stack on top of each other, and the smooth walls didn't necessarily encourage climbing.

If that wasn't bad enough, he had to get through a steel door afterward. In fact, he wasn't sure if it was just that one.

'Fuck. This is hopeless...'

Suddenly, however, his soundless tomb's peace was broken.

"Good evening, Mr. Terrel."

'Wha—!'

Terrel thought that his mind had finally snapped and that his last wisp of sanity had finally gone out, but he eventually realized that he could once again hear his rough gasps and his bare feet slapping against the hard floor.

"I can hear again!" he shouted in glee.

"Your hearing was never restrained. It's just that this room does something with the air so that sound can't travel inside. I've turned it off since I wouldn't be able to question you otherwise."

Terrel looked up from the bottom of his cell, but the darkness revealed nothing. Judging from the sound of the voice, however, he could tell that his visitor was a young boy.

'But what the hell's a boy doin' here...?'

Before he could wrack his brains for an answer, the boy spoke again.

"I'm here to ask you a few questions."

"..." Terrel was shocked for a moment before he eventually scoffed. "Is tha' right?"

'So they sent a kid here thinking I might let my guard down and snitch on my mates?'

Despite wanting most of them dead, Terrel still went through a lot together with his comrades. If those fools from Aizen thought that he was dumb enough to reveal any information just because he was talking to a kid, then the nation wasn't as smart as he thought they were.

'Even bottom-feeding dregs like us have honor!'

And he'd rather die as a dog than live as a traitor.

'Anyway, these bastards won't let me live even if I did tell 'em the truth!'

In Terrel's heart, that was the biggest reason.

With a cold sneer, that the boy likely couldn't see, Terrel crossed his arms and parked his ass on the bed. He would chat with this boy to stave off his boredom.

"Yer free ta ask, kid."

"Thank you," The boy said, his tone surprisingly droll. "Now, I only want two things from you, Mr. Terrel."

Terrel chuckled, amused by the boy's use of big words. "Lemme hear 'em then."

'He's tryin' ta sound like a big shot, eh?'

"First..." The boy trailed off. "...is that you give me an answer to every question. Which is to say, that you cannot remain silent when I ask something."

The criminal snickered with a shrug. "Sounds reasonable."

"The second thing I want from you, is to answer everything I ask with a lie."

Terrel was ready to offer a mocking comment, but then ground to a halt when he heard what the boy said.

"A lie...?"

"Yes," The boy hidden in the darkness confirmed. "You must lie. Every single time."

'Is this kid for real...?'

Did they grow so frustrated that they couldn't even verify if what he said was the truth, that they went ahead and outright told him to lie instead? And even if he did lie, what would they get out of that? He could also tell the truth sometimes just to mess with them too.

'I don't get it...'

"Uhh..." Not knowing how to respond to such a weird request, Terrel crossed his arms in defiance and smirked stiffly. "And what if I don't?"

The boy stayed silent for a moment, before his indifferent voice entered Terrel's ears.

"Then I will hurt you."

"Hurt me...?" Terrel couldn't help but laugh. "From all the way up there?"

"Yes. From all the way up here."

"Hah!" The prisoner covered the uncontrollable smile on his face. "Kid, unless you got a bow or sumthin' up there, you'd have ta come down here ta hurt me. And I'd beat the crap out of you if you do."

"We'll see." The boy brushed off Terrel's threat and asked his first question. "What country were you born in?"

Terrel dug around in his nose and flicked a sticky one to where he thought the boy was before answering. "Aizen."

"Were you born in the republic of Arkhan?"

"Nope. Already told ya I was born in Aizen. Been here since I was a wee boy, I was."

"I'm sorry, but you don't have the accent of a native," The boy retorted. "Anyway, is Terrel your alias, or your real name?"

"An alias."

"Very good. You've been very cooperative so far." The boy's dry clapping filled the once-silent room. "Let's continue in this manner so that we can both go our separate ways."

Terrel didn't like how pretentious the boy sounded.

'They probably did some research on me. So they already know some o' the answers to the things they're askin'.'

Unfortunately for them, Terrel didn't have any intentions of revealing anything information that was actually vital.

"Ask away, then." Terrel had gotten too tired of sitting, so he went to lie in his bed instead and dug around in his nose.

"Is your headquarters in Worgon's Nightmarket district?"

Terrel's face stiffened. He decided to stay quiet for this one.

After a few moments of silence, the boy spoke, "Mr. Terrel? I asked you a question."

"..."

"Mr. Terrel?"

"..."

The boy pestered him some more, but Terrel wouldn't budge.

'Whacha gonna do now, kid?'

"Mr. Terrel, I'm very disappointed in you. I thought we had an understanding." The boy almost sounded forlorn, if not for how monotone he voiced his thoughts. "However, it seems you don't perceive me as a threat."

"Hah. Am I wrong?"

"Yes. You are wrong, Mr. Terrel."

Then why don't you go prove it? he was about to say, but Terrel's voice caught in his throat when he felt one of his fingers — his right thumb — bend the other way.

"Aaaaaah!" Terrel shrieked at the sudden bout of pain. He cradled his right hand, gently poking the now-swollen joint.

As far as he was concerned, nothing had touched him. His finger had just bent on its own.

"Mr. Terrel." The boy's calm voice echoed within the criminal's chaotic mind, as if the voice was the only thing in the world at the moment. "I don't like repeating myself for ugly men such as yourself. So please answer the question I asked earlier."

"Ahh... ahhhh..." Terrel looked up in horror while cradling his twisted finger. He still couldn't see the boy, but whatever happened just proved that there was nothing ordinary about the child he'd been mocking.

"Answer."

One word was all it took for Terrel to start shaking. "Ah. Y-yes... uh... o-our headquarters... isn't in that district. W-we just passed by..."

"Very good. Now, do you have any other bases or facilities elsewhere? Specifically, do you have any other facilities in Aizen?"

Terrel gulped. "We do..."

'Technically, it's true...'

Although it wasn't under the ownership of the syndicate that Terrel belonged to, the place was open for their use.

"Hm?" The boy hummed, sounding interested. "I see. Although I gained something out of that, I did tell you to lie to all of my questions, didn't I?"

Terrel's scream filled the room again. The pain came faster than the realization that yet another finger had been bent in the wrong direction. He didn't know why, but the pain was especially vivid.

And as if to answer his horrifying realization, the boy explained. "Did you know, when a person loses one of their senses, the other senses are raised to compensate for that? To a certain extent, you have lost your sight, and for a while, your hearing. I imagine that your other senses have been especially sharpened. This is not a good thing for you at all, though."

"P-please stop...."

"Do you think I enjoy this, Mr. Terrel? I'd much rather be sleeping right now. Regardless, there will be no pain as long as you cooperate." The boy said, his voice conveying his boredom and desire to get this over with. "Now, I will likely be repeating my questions multiple times for no apparent reason. Do not ask why. Just answer with a lie. Do you understand?"

"Yes...!"

"Very good. Answer all my questions, and I will make sure you are given a swift death."

Even though his demise had just been declared in such an indifferent manner, thinking of spending more time in this prison... and that he'd be questioned by this monster hidden in the dark again, Terrel wished for his doom to come sooner.

As his entire body trembled, Terrel shakily nodded his head. He unconsciously gazed upwards, to where he thought the boy was.

"Good. Let's begin in earnest."

In a fleeting moment that barely lasted a fraction of a second, the wisp cast its feeble glow, the only semblance of light that dared penetrate his dismal and suffocating prison. It was at that moment that the boy's face was illuminated.

"Y-yes, sir..."

Terrel gulped after having bared witness to the piercing gaze of those inhuman, gold eyes that would haunt him for the remainder of his wretchedly short existence.