The night fell upon the group. Kintovar and Juliana stood in the tranquil expanse. Rawna, their guide, dozed against a towering tree. Meanwhile, Roselle, Risebelle, and Runebelle lay in portable sleeping beds.

  Haras, Kintovar's lab partner, was lost in her own dreams. Julia, the brain, oversaw the girl’s in their restful state.

  Julian was in her iconic green military suit and lab coat. Her distinctive pink hair was tied in sidetails. She wore violet headphones. She gave a swift salute towards the brain.

  Juliana turned her gaze toward Kintovar. "It's time. Rawna won't be waking anytime soon. We'll have to make our move quietly."

  Kintovar acknowledged Juliana with a subtle nod. Juliana spoke."The Dark Castle won't be an easy infiltration, especially under the cover of night. But it's our only chance to secure the Suxena Nexus."

  The duo stealthily maneuvered through the veils of darkness and made their way towards the Western Kingdom’s Castle of Darkness.

  Kintovar and Juliana cautiously approached the towering gates of the Dark Castle. The guards stationed at the entrance scanned the perimeter. Kintovar and Juliana exchanged a brief, wordless communication.

  Once they neared the gate, the sentinels recognized both women. "Wait a minute," one of the guards called out "Aren't you supposed to be in the East?"

  Kintovar maintained her composure. "Yes, we were there. However, King Maizen urgently requested us to return. There's been a development that requires our immediate attention."

  The guards exchanged uncertain glances. Juliana stepped forward. “We have to collect some critical information from the King himself. It's of utmost importance."

  The guards stood firm. They exchanged wary glances, then focused on Juliana with narrowed eyes.

  “We’re not buying it,” one guard said gruffly. “You’re one of the top 10 criminals in the kingdom, Juliana. You’re only out on bail because of your granddaughter Kintovar’s influence.”

  Kintovar reached into her coat and produced a carefully sealed letter. The envelope bore the royal seal of the Western Kingdom. She handed it to the guards with a steady hand.

  One of the guards took the letter, scrutinizing it closely. He turned it over in his hands and then broke the seal, carefully unfolding the letter inside.

  "This… this is King Maizen’s signature," the guard muttered in surprise. He looked up at Kintovar and Juliana. "We were instructed to allow these two entry if we received confirmation directly from the King himself."

  The second guard nodded in agreement. "Alright, we’ll let you in. But..."

  The second guard stepped closer to Juliana. His face held a barely contained anger. “My daughter was involved in one of your so-called ‘projects’. She wanted to be a scientist, but she ended up... well, let’s just say things didn’t turn out well.”

  Juliana met his gaze without flinching. The guard spoke sharply. “I hate what you stand for, Juliana. Mark my words, if you pull anything here, I’ll be on you like white on rice.”

  The other guard interjected firmly. “Alright, that’s enough. We’ve got our orders, and we’re letting them through. Save the personal vendettas for another time.”

  The second guard’s glare remained fixed on Juliana, but he grudgingly stepped back. “Fine, but you, Juliana, I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”

  Kintovar She took a step forward, offering a small nod of appreciation to the first guard. “Thank you for your understanding.”

  Kintovar and Juliana moved into the castle. They were enveloped by the cold stone walls and flickering torches. Kintovar scanned their surroundings. She then leaned in to Juliana and whispered, “Your forgery skills are unbelievable. I’m impressed.”

  Juliana gave a sly smile. “Sometimes you have to trick or be tricked. It’s all part of the game. I’m sure this will be quite amusing.”

  Their path eventually led them to a grand corridor lined with red carpets. While treading the path, Juliana explained, "This castle, it's more than it seems. It houses the Jailhouse where I was kept, the courtroom, and the chamber of the King, as you've seen. But what you didn't know is that there's a Domain hidden beneath this very floor. That's where I was when you first visited me."

  Kintovar's face shifted to curiousity.

  "Remember," Juliana continued. "The challenge isn’t only going to be about getting into the Jailhouse. Getting into my cell without raising suspicion far exceeds that.

  Kintovar absorbed Juliana's words. She nodded in acknowledgment.

  Kintovar and Juliana navigated the corridors. Their eyes scanned for the signs of the concealed elevator.

  "There," Juliana whispered while pointing to a discreet alcove in the wall. It appeared no different from the rest. "The elevator we need is behind that facade."

  Kintovar nodded. Memories from her previous encounter with the castle flooded back. "I remember this," she murmured.

  Guided by Juliana's instructions, Kintovar subtly accessed the hidden controls, activating the elevator's concealed mechanism. The door slid open soundlessly and the two went in.

  The elevator descended in near-silence. Kintovar, well-versed in the operation of her technology, activated a cloaking device. This rendered them invisible to the naked eye.

  When the elevator reached the designated level, its doors opened with a whisper of mechanical precision. Kintovar and Juliana stepped out into the corridor of the Jailhouse.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Just when they moved cautiously along the corridor, a clamor erupted from the direction of the elevator. Kintovar and Juliana pressed against the wall. Their cloaking device ensured they remained unseen.

  A female guard with short hair emerged from the noise. She glanced at the elevator with a stern glare. “Who left the elevator on autopilot again?”

  A few other guards quickly gathered around her. Their faces ranged from guilt to confusion. “Not me!” one guard protested. “I just came off of my break!”

  “Don’t look at me!” another chimed in, pointing a finger at a colleague. “I had nothing to do with it! He was the closest one to the elevator!”

  The female guard’s eyes narrowed. “That’s enough,” she declared firmly. “All of you are getting reported! I’ll make sure this is noted.”

  Kintovar and Juliana exchanged a quick, relieved glance before proceeding. They slipped past the distracted guard and continued down the corridor.

  Kintovar and Juliana approached the heavy, reinforced door of Juliana's old cell. Kintovar glanced at Juliana. “Do you have the keys?”

  Juliana nodded and pulled a small pouch from her belt. She carefully opened it to reveal an assortment of keys. She sorted through them, selecting three with practiced ease. “ Yes, I prepared extra just in case,” she explained. “We need to get three correct keys to unlock this cell. Let's hope my preparation pays off.”

  Kintovar examined them briefly and then nodded. “Alright, let’s see if they fit.”

  Juliana approached the cell door and began to test the keys, one by one. After a few moments, Juliana furrowed her brow. “Remember, once we remove the lock, the sound might alert the guards. We need to have a plan for that.”

  Kintovar nodded. “We could use a noise-canceling device or create a distraction. Do you have anything on you that might help?”

  Juliana shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. But I’ve got an idea. We can use that female guard’s attitude to our advantage. She seems to have a big mouth and a short fuse. With that in mind, we might just be able to get away with this.”

  Kintovar raised an eyebrow. “How do you propose we do that?”

  Juliana grinned. “We’ll let the door make the noise when we open it. Once it does, we’ll rely on her tendency to overreact. We’re cloaked, so she might just think it’s another issue or mistake rather than an intrusion. She’s so busy blaming her fellow guards for their slip-ups, she might not even think to check the security feed or investigate further.”

  Kintovar nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Very well, let’s give this a try.”

  As Juliana continued working on the lock, the noise of the mechanism was more pronounced than anticipated. The cell door creaked and groaned, louder than they had hoped. Juliana shot Kintovar a worried look, but the plan was already in motion.

  Just when the door reached its fully open position, the unmistakable sound of a guard’s irritated shout echoed through the corridor. The female guard from earlier was evidently on a rampage. She made her way towards Juliana’s cell door.

  Her face flushed with indignation at the sight of the unlocked cell door.

  "This mistake cannot be ignored!" she stammered. "Everyone, get your asses over here! We have a catastrophic failure!"

  Her command echoed through the corridor, and she quickly began summoning all available guards. “Do you idiots see what happens when you sleep on the job!? I want every single one of you to sort this out immediately!”

  While the female guard was busy with her outburst, Juliana and Kintovar took advantage of the distraction. They slipped into the cell with practiced stealth.

  Juliana approached a hidden panel embedded in the cell wall. With a few deft taps, the panel slid open, revealing a concealed entrance leading down a narrow stairway.

  "Quickly, follow me," Juliana whispered urgently. She gestured for Kintovar to descend first.

  Kintovar nodded and stepped through the hidden doorway. Juliana followed closely behind. The stairway spiraled downwards, leading them away from the chaos above and deeper into the castle's hidden underbelly.

  The noise of the female guard's ranting grew fainter and was soon replaced the quiet of the secret passage. The hidden stairway seemed to go on forever.

  Juliana kept a brisk pace. “Stay alert. This passage will lead us to the realm of the Domains. This is where we can find the Suxena Nexus.”

  Kintovar's mind swirled with the insights from the memories she'd tapped into while in the North. The notion of 'Domains' lingered in her thoughts—places of mystical unpredictability, harboring creatures and hybrids who deliberately concealed themselves from conventional society.

  Curiosity nudged Kintovar, leading her to ask, "I've seen traces of the Domains in the memories of my creations. They seemed like worlds apart from our reality—fairytale-like, even Gothic. Have you had any encounters with these Domains?"

  Juliana met Kintovar's query with a knowing gaze. "I've brushed against these Domains, yes. My experiences might not be similar to yours. The ones I came across down here was akin to a realm of amalgamated realities. This realm is a convergence of worlds. More importantly, this was a place where I could keep working on my technology in secret. I made my own Domain down here, by the way."

  Kintovar looked skeptically.

  "Creating this domain wasn't a simple task," Juliana said, “The previous owner was a tyrant, exploiting the convergence of realities to his advantage. It fell to me to, let's say, 'deal' with him. From that moment on, I crafted my technology in such a way that I could be prepared for a confrontation."

  Kintovar absorbed Juliana's words with understanding coming to her. This hidden domain was not just a haven but an area with histories and struggles of those who inhabited it.

  "Are you ready for this," Juliana asked

  Kintovar met Juliana's gaze with confidence briefly. "I've prepared myself for this moment. I understand the significance and the risks involved."

  Kintovar and Juliana reached an intersection of four distinct pathways. Juliana spoke. "Down here, Kintovar, there are four domains, each with its own set of unpredictability’s. But you see that one on the far left? The one engulfed in flames?”

  Juliana pointed outwards in the left direction. Kintovar followed Juliana's pointed gesture to the leftmost domain. It was where the flickering flames resembled the inferno of hell itself.

  "That's the Domain of King Inu," Juliana said. "It's a place of unrelenting chaos, a realm of fire and turmoil. King Inu rules with a relentless iron fist, a cruel dictator in his blazing kingdom. We'll be heading straight ahead, to a domain less hostile."

  The duo now approached Juliana's Domain with Juliana taking the lead, Kintovar's heart pounded with curiosity. What she found inside, however, stunned her to the core. It was a forest seemed familiar, leading to a concealed door fitted with a voice recognition system.

  Juliana stepped forward and spoke within the mechanism “Juliana Kintovar.”

  The system responded, "Access granted, Administrator Juliana."

  With a soft hum, the door slid open, revealing a vast and impeccably organized lab. This design was a mirror image of Kintovar's own work environment.

  The second floor housed three empty tanks and one occupied tank. The third floor, with separate rooms, and the solitary fourth floor evoked a sense of déjà vu. Kintovar pieced it together.

  "This... it's my setup," she breathed, astonished.

  Kintovar turned to Juliana in disbelief. “It’s... it's mine. How did you replicate it so accurately? I understand the systems you had in place to monitor me, but this level of precision… It's remarkable."

  Juliana met Kintovar's astonished gaze with a faint smile. "It's your work, baby bird. I had a lot of time on my hands, and well, it was like having you around. Even in my darkest times, I was inspired by your work, by our shared passion for invention and creation. It became a source of strength and ingenuity during my confinement. I knew your layout better than you might think."

  "Welcome back, Juliana,” someone said all of a sudden.

  Kintovar's gaze shifted slowly towards the source. There stood a woman who bore the combined traits of Roselle, Risebelle, and Runebelle.

  She possessed Roselle's captivating blue eyes and cherubic cheeks. The woman's long, flowing hair carried the blue hue of Risebelle's, though there was pink streaks.

  The outfit she wore was a blend of yellow, blue, and green with symbols that seamlessly resembled Roselle's lightning, Risebelle's aqua, and Runebelle's natural energy.

  Kintovar couldn't contain her astonishment. "What…What are you?"