Serenity didn't voice her opinions of Future Skullius' thoughts immediately. If she had an expression, it might have been easier to decipher her emotions, but alas…

"How do you even know all this?" she said frustratedly. "For someone who was in a 'prison' my father made, you sure seem to have had a lot of freedom. Did my father show you the past and the future? How did you even peer into other Realities? You even speak of fate and Direction as if you truly understand them."

Future Skullius smiled and pointed a finger just beyond his bed. A string of Ju`wtte spilled from the tip and turned down the corner into a partition that had the makings of a decent kitchen.

He retrieved a wineglass full of some kind of sweet-smelling wine. If a mortal were to smell it, they would have thought it was liquid perfume.

"Right," said Future Skullius as he took a sip. "You wouldn't know, would you? Your father doesn't want you sisters knowing about what he does with his shills. Even Wyrrim, who just so happens to favour you the most out of the three of you is out the loop, which I find hilarious."

Serenity snorted but said nothing to this.

"Well, if you must know, the Prison is tied directly to fate and Direction. It really is a Prison, but it has a lot of perks. If you use it to your advantage, you learn a few things, like how to take glimpses into other Realities." Future Skullius punched his cushion as though to make it softer. "I discovered that having a comprehension of the |Greater Cosmic Law| before being imprisoned goes a long way, though, which is why the prison is meant for the Wanderer's warriors first and foremost. I saw a few 'Fulgardts' there, with different iterations of the Insurgent Magnus powers."

Serenity scowled – even though it was impossible, but Future Skullius didn't miss that.

"If you know so much, do you also know why father insists on making this some tedious war game – me, Void, Emmae vs. him? I… don't want to play anymore."

"Well, I wouldn't take any sides, but you and your sisters started this whole thing when you rebelled against daddy's Order. Sorry, the |Greater Cosmic Law|." Future Skullius waved a hand when Serenity glared. (It was rather easy to sense her malevolent attention.) "Like I said, you caused the mess brewing in this Reality. After you three comprehended the Law, fiends like AKHASHA took after you, and began using it as well. Now, Primeval Deities have a monopoly on resources. AKHASHA took away Conste (Time), and now Divinity doesn't guarantee some semblance of continuation – consistent immortality."

"And like I said, that's not our fa—"

"It is your fault," said Future Skullius as he took another sip of his wine. "You didn't just create Primeval Deities like AKHASHA, Serenity. Look no further than your own Null Verse. Just how many beings have been born in there that are able to comprehend the Law all on their own? They follow after you – after your example. Some have even been able to use their powers to peer through the Null Verse and into the wider Reality, like the Canon Men, and of course, the Warmoth. The path you've led is still bearing fruit. And you actually like it, don't you? The Null Verse is a breeding ground for potential. Potential to grasp the Law."

Serenity clutched her face. "Why did father even create the Law if it was never meant to be used? Clearly, he intended for beings in this Reality to ascend by learning higher concepts of being. He should have known we'd grow curious eventually. Don't tell me only saints exist in the other Realities."

"Of course not," Future Skullius laughed. "Everyone is ambitious and motivated. But they don't have Existential Parallels or the Wanderer's shills roaming about."

Serenity shook her head.

It irked her. Ever since she, Void and Emmae learned of their nature – that they were daughters of a powerful being who reigned over three Realities – they had scarcely found it in them to be proud. The Wanderer Who Seeds had delivered a message through Wyrrim. He had declared war on all three of them.

To counter the growth of his daughters through their newfound powers, he set upon this Reality an odd kind of influence that spawned on every other world out there in the great void; there were beings that were born… unnatural. The Deities who created them would not claim them as their own because they were simply… different.

They were born with some aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law| or with an affinity to learn them quicker than most. Often, these beings disrupted the flow of Direction and fate in all beings mortal or Divine. Deities hated them almost as much as they hated anomalies.

As it so happened, these beings were a thorn to the Parallels most of all.

"But let's be fair," said Future Skullius. He had grabbed a pastry from the kitchen to pair with his wine. "Your father seems to only want to see the extent of your growth. It's not like this war game is a one-sided massacre, is it? Like it should realistically be. I'm living proof of that."

"How so?" Serenity said scathingly.

The future Hybrid scratched his head. "I wonder if I'll get in trouble for saying this. Wyrrim always restricts you from exposing certain things, right? I have my own pain in the pelvis restrictions for divulging information. They have penalties too." He chuckled. "Oh well. There's an unusual rule – an odd reaction, rather – that applies when a powerful anomaly and a powerful shill face each other in serious combat."

"A reaction?"

"Yes. Emmae wouldn't know this since she hasn't had a proper Bearer in a while, and Void – try as she might to curry favour with your father even now – also wouldn't know it, even with her wealth of Bearers who rarely do her bidding," said Future Skullius and he turned stern. "Whoever loses in a match between an anomaly and a shill extracts the fate of the other."

Serenity's mood was suddenly lighter. "What does that mean exactly?"

Future Skullius grinned.

"If a shill wins, normally, their reward is… potential. Whatever conduit they received their power from – like the Fruit of World Myths – allows them to extract aspects of the Law their opponent is already aware of."

"…I see," said Serenity. Her thoughts naturally zoomed over to Skullius' fate. "And if an anomaly wins?"

Future Skullius scratched his chin with the half-eaten pastry. "There is a plethora of rewards, but the arguably the best… is the Prison."

…!

"Wait. You mean…"

"Yes," said Future Skullius. "Granted, I had to defeat three shills to get that as a reward, and I must say, none of them were nearly as seasoned as Fulgardt."