Princess Romilda sat numbly behind the prison bars that held her.
It was now only 3 days until the day of the Demon Subjugation Summit and there was still no word from her adopted father, the Emperor of Rome, nor was there any sign that she or the others were going to be given a fair trial.
As a matter of fact, she was actually already thankful that the authorities hadn't directly sentenced them to death on the grounds of High treason!
'No... Its only 2 days and less than 60 hours left... Just a few minutes and it'll be midnight... Dammit! How are we going to get ourselves out of this?'
She corrected herself, frowning in worry and fear at what dire consequences awaited the city of Rome along with her father and the rest of her comrades.
She was imprisoned in solitary confinement, separated from her companions Principal Snow, Sebas Tian and Caitlyn as their jailors feared they would break loose.
She felt a migraine coming from the worry she felt, and she didn't even have anyone to talk to or pour out her fears, with only the endless darkness and solitude as company!
For a girl barely 18 years old and used to the privileges and comforts of modern civilisation, solitary confinement in a dank, dark and cramped cell was like hell!
It was just then in her frustration and despair that she heard sounds of muffled struggles, then a body falling softly to the ground somewhere outside her holding area.
'!!?? Could it be...?' Romilda struggled to her feet and moved her chained limbs which were suppressed by skystone - a magic-infused synthesised material that inhibited mana and was exceedingly heavy.
Despite being literally bound hand and foot, she stood at the ready for the opportunity of escape that just might arrive - even as a sliver of light appeared.
The door was being opened!
She did not try a futile charge to attack the one who entered - she was weaker than a child right now. But she perked up her awareness and waited as a dark figure emerged with the light behind him as a backdrop.
"It's great to see you again. Here's your gear, let's go!"
"Y-you... Why are you helping us...!??" Romilda exclaimed softly in shock but did not hesitate to allow the man to unlock her chains and then equip herself quickly.
"Come on, let's go - Roland is rescuing the others and holding the fort! I've secured a teleport array!" Sir Jacques urged the ravishingly beautiful princess who was dressed meagerly in but a white slip.
The young and arrogant fop was acting valiantly and had turned into a brave and dashing man - one who somehow made the teenage girl's heart beat rapidly.
"O-okay..." She said demurely as she followed in his footsteps quickly, a shy girl completely unlike her usual self.
* * * * *
At the same moment, another girl sat behind prison bars, equally numbly...
And hungry.
She was not in solitary confinement but she might as well have been, because no one dared to take a step near her.
When Sam was first thrown into the prison cell, the eyes of all the inmates had lit up lasciviously - fresh meat had arrived to satisfy their cravings!
When they saw that she was someone who was powerful enough to deserve to be bound by skystone, they were curious but unafraid - was there any meaning in being strong enough to warrant such bonds? When those same chains meant you were unable to use mana?
Turned out, it meant a whole f***ing lot!
As the sleazy, ill-intentioned perverts closed in on her like a pack of hyenas over a piece of juicy meat, the slim and pretty (if flat chested) T-Rex in a girl's body smiled back pleasantly at them.
One 2.6 metre tall man with long blue hair and a cruel looking scar running from his face down to his abdomen sneered as he reached out to touch Sam's now-short hair.
Simultaneously, another round and beer bellied, huge muscle man tightly grabbed her arms while two short and thin weasel like twins grabbed either of her legs.
And then they began laughing maniacally as they prepared to ravage Sam to their hearts' content!
"Hmm...? You want to play wrestling...? Sure! Yay!!!" Sam quipped delightedly and spread her hands wide open, much to the surprise and pleasure of the men.
At least, pleasure for just a split second.
Then Sam continued smiling warmly as she beat the sh*t out of them so badly that they began to weep and cry hysterically!
"Mommy... Mommy...!!! Make it stop!!!"
"Buddha!!! Save me!!!"
"O God of evil, please restrain your servant girl, please!!!"
The grown men were quickly reduced to a tangled pile of twitching semi-conscious training dummies all heaped up in one corner of the large prison cell.
Meanwhile the simple prison guards could only shiver in horror as they watched her destroy the army of more than 50 hardened criminals, murderers, rapists and killers...
They were glad she was behind bars.
Then she looked around, unsatisfied that her warm up had ended already and set her eyes on the two prison guards...
And smiled.
* * * * *
Hours later, when asked what manner of chaos had occurred in the prison and why dozens of seasoned offenders were now turned into eunuchs, the only witnesses were nowhere to be found.
The two guards were finally found locked into a maximum security cell.
When asked what had happened and how they ended up in there, the two guards were found to be holding the key to their own cell - they could have escaped at any time...!
And when asked what had happened, they could only endlessly repeat one word on and on without making any sense.
"D-demon..."
* * * * *
Earl Doumo was having a terrible headache.
He was in charge of the attendance and seating arrangements for the upcoming 3 day Demon Subjugation Summit, but until today, he had not received replies or confirmation from more than 30% of the invitees!
"How in hell am I supposed to arrange and budget for refreshments, assign seating, prepare welcoming parties and plan logistics when people aren't even courteous enough to RSVP their attendance!!!?? DAMMIT!!!"
He rubbed his temples even as he roared in anger, standing up and slamming one hand on his metal desk.
His move startled all the other administrative staff he had recruited for this event, and he belatedly realised that his action was greatly unbecoming the Head of Guests Logistics for this event...
He sat back down dizzily and sighed as he closed his eyes and sank down into his chair.
It was then that he heard a familiar voice resound in his ears, an unexpected and surprising but greatly welcome voice.
"Need some help...?" The warm voice asked, not even bothering to say hello - just like how an old friend would.
Earl Doumo opened his eyes with shock and great joy as he rose from his seat and blinked, not believing what he had just heard or what he was seeing.
"Albert...? Albert, is that really you...?" He began to smile from ear to ear as he saw his long time buddy and stumbled round his desk to run to greet his friend at the office entrance.
"If it weren't me, who would it be? A ghost? Hahaha!" Albert clasped hands with Doumo and caught the older man in a fierce manly embrace.
"Albert, it's really you, it's really you! Come, I'm so glad you're back! Do you know how hard it's been, working on this stupid event... It's not like how it was all those years ago when you were always by my side and we organised the imperial wedding together! I need your help! You're just in time!"
Albert smiled as he walked together with his old colleague and friend. They fondly spoke of the years past but got to work immediately as time was so tight that the catching up would have to be done later!
Step one of his mission complete: Infiltrate the Demon Subjugation Summit.