Kalika leaned against the wall of the bloody and dirty solitary prison. it felt as though a day had passed, even so her thoughts of Rhonda and Tilus still lingered. It didn't help that Rakon's last few words also stuck with her.
she could still hear him clear as day. "[Mourn if you want. But when the week is up, I'll be bringing you with me back into the Pit.]"
She cringed. "Why should I mourn…? It's not like that's going to help… there's no point in mourning the dead…"
She glanced around for the hundredth time. Nothing seems to have changed. She expected to see Rakon's clone come over to chat and tease her but there was only a deafening silence. It was so quiet any subtle move she made sounded like she was moving in a bush of flowers.
Bored. She started to imagine what would happen if Rhonda were with her. She could just imagine how surprised Rhonda would be. She saw her getting ready to clean the entire solitary prison spotless.
She could imagine it now. A pristine gray stoned cell where there'd be no more blood. No more grime. And no more of the strange mold growing in the corner of the prison.
Rhonda would give a pair of brand-new fresh prison clothes for her to wear. Giving a bow before taking her leave with a smile.
Imagining this scenario did not bring Kalika comfort. Thinking about it more and more made it feel painful to her. She tried to reignite the feeling she knew existed previously but couldn't find it.
"None of this makes sense to me anymore…"
Just then Kalika heard the creaking of the steel doors outside along with the footsteps. She could feel the presence of the three women approaching her. After a while they finally open the steel door revealing themselves.
In their hands they each held a heaping bowl of meat porridge. They all place their bowls in the center of the square prison cell. They all left a sly smirk, hidden from Kalika as they turned to leave.
Daji Glanced back at Kalika, practically staring at her. "
Shortly after, they slammed the door closed, locking it and leaving Kalika alone once more.
She stared at the bowl of food, seeing that it was meat porridge from the corner of the cell. The smell finally reached her nose, and it only made her hungrier. As much as she didn't trust those three women, she didn't mind eating it. After all, the worst they can do is poison her out of pettiness.
She took her first bite, finding the meat to be very savory. She took bite after bite. Each just as good as the last, maybe even better. Before she realized it, she'd already finished the three bowls given to her.
With her food finished she waited and waited for any potential adverse effects to arrive. To her surprise… Nothing happened.
"Hmmmm…"
Kalika stared at the steel door for a long time. "Perhaps they did nothing to the food…"
She turned away from the door. "No… It's probably a slow acting poison… Whatever they did, it doesn't matter anymore…"
********
Donovan woke up in his cell. He jolted up looking around. He found that three of the demon guards were stationed in front of his cell.
He rubbed the back of his head trying to remember the last thing that happened. He then remembered the night before where he helped cause a riot within the prison. "Oh yeah…"
One of the guards noticed that he woke up, and quickly conversed with the others in their native language. One of them opened the cell door urging Donovan to follow them. They slapped steel cuffs on his arms and legs, escorting him from his cell.
The other prisoners, watching from their cells, snickered and scowled at him.
"Heh. Good riddance!"
"Dead man walking! Hahaha."
"Do you think he'll be back?" One whispered.
"I doubt it. anyone that gets escorted away with those cuffs normally never comes back…"
Donovan ignored all the comments the other inmates were saying, instead focusing on following behind.
They left the dungeon prison, ascending floor after floor until they eventually reached the castle. They traveled through the black corridor where Maid and other servants rushed through. Some cleaning, while others repaired parts of the corridor wall.
"Aren't these people?? What are they…" He thought.
Upon closer inspection he saw some of them had horns peeking from their hairs and that all of them had pink eyes, similar to Rhonda. He quickly came to the consensus that they were in fact, not human.
Shortly after, they continued to ascend up to the third floor of the castle where they walked past many decorative carpets and paintings. Eventually they reached their destination and entered Rakon's studies where a bloodied Gaz was kneeling before Rakon.
To Donovan's surprise within the room, an assortment of scrolls were stored away at the left side, all of it neatly organized in the shelves. Behind Rakon stood his desk, filled with parchment and tools for writing. And a small row of barrels filled with strangely colored pelts stood tall and rolled up in each barrel.
"
"
"
Gaz shook a little. "Y-y-yes… This won't happen again…"
Rakon, seeing that Donovan had arrived, dismissed Gaz.
Rakon Glared at Donovan for a short while before turning to his desk and taking up his feathered pen. "The celestine soldier my brother sent as a prisoner. Donovan if I'm correct." Rakon Dipped the pen into a deep dark red vial. "Do you know why you are still alive?"
Donovan stayed silent as Rakon wrote something onto the parchment before him. After receiving no reply Rakon glared back up.
"You're only alive because my brother, the former demon king, thought you would have useful knowledge on those strange, piped weapons your army used." Rakon set the pen back on the desk.
"Numerous times you caused a small bit of trouble in the prison from time to time. All of those I can ignore... But this latest stunt you pulled…!" Rakon gave a much more forced smile, bawling his hands. "Have left me disillusioned."
Donovan heard a loud thud come from behind. Turning around he found the huge red demon, Bjorn, towering over him. Seeing this a cold sweat ran down his face
"You will either prove your worth now or you can die." Rakon said. "Whatever you choose, my conscience is cleared."
After a few seconds of being stared down by Bjorn he finally responded.
"Wh…. When I have someone this large standing over me… H-how can I refuse…?"
"Bjorn, lead this man to the craftsman on the seventh floor of the dungeon."
"Understood." Bjorn grabbed Donovan, pulling him out from the studies.
Walking out the door, Donovan found that Gaz had waited by the side. "
Donovan ignored Gaz, opting to continue on as he's led back to the dungeon. Gaz watched on snickering to himself annoyed. He took a handkerchief from his coat pocket, cleaning his face with it as he too left.
Back with Rakon, he sat back at his desk with his parchment in front of him. He looked at his hands and attempted to channel his blood magic.
He's able to conjure forth an unstable clone of himself. Not long after it turned into a puddle of blood.
"Grrrhh!" Rakon looked down sourly at the puddle of blood. Lifting his finger, he absorbed it back into his body and cleaned the mess.
"She'll be fine. After all, those three already know their place..."
He sighed exhaustedly and turned back to the parchment in front of him, continuing to work hard on it. However, unknown to him, a guard was watching from the crack in the door. The guard looked down both ends of the hall and not wanting to get caught lingering, he quietly took his leave.
********
Another heaping bowl is placed at the center of the solitary prison, along with some water. Valam snickered, slamming the door behind her. This had been their routine for the past couple days where they would leave a heaping bowl of meat four times in the given day.
This felt unlike them. She could only assume that Rakon is keeping a short leash on them. Seeing him with the three women the last few times, he didn't seem to like them much.
Looking at the food in front of her, Kalika pushed those thoughts aside, opting to start her feast. She wasted no time grabbing the water and taking a sip from it. It was a little dirty, but she didn't care much for it. Taking the bowl and eating it she found there to be a strange texture to it this time. She found it chewier than before.
Finishing her food she felt a familiar tingling sensation from under her skin. She felt strange. Not sickly but… abnormally dizzy. She crawled back to the corner of the prison and rested her head on the two walls. She felt herself starting to become overwhelmingly tired for the first time in a while. And slowly, she slipped into slumber.
Kalika, opening her eyes, found herself somewhere dark and breezy. Looking around there were rocks and boulders and trees surrounding her. She felt much smaller than what she was before and felt panicked. A fear rose within her as colors including those unfamiliar to her appeared.
Hear the crunching of leaves she bolted away involuntarily, hiding behind a large boulder. Peeking, she watched as two familiar figures appeared. To her shock, standing tall and towering before her were Lillian and the Demon King Lucius. Both of them talk in the native Demon Language that Kalika could somehow understand.
They both talked of the poor state of the demon race and of a war above. She could see the colors of blue and red mixed in with purple and yellow. It was a strange sight to behold, she's never seen colors being emitted from a person before.
A subtle movement is made and she steps on a branch. her heart sank as both Lillian and Lucius are alerted to her presence. seeing this, she automatically ran away. But then a strong gust a wind pushed her backwards onto her back.
She felt the pain from falling on her back. Upon opening her eyes she found that Lillian towered over her. Her heart pounded much more fiercely and her fear began to rise as she was lifted from the ground.
Lillian stared curiously at her. "A human girl? What is she doing here?"
"Look at her eyes, Lillian. That's the mark of a Succubus." Lucius said.
"Huh????" Kalika became extremely confused.
As much as Kalika wanted to refute this her voice wouldn't come out. Instead a little girl's voice made itself known.
"P-p-p-please don't hurt me! I-I-I-I won't tell anyone you're here! Promise!" She felt her face start to well up.
Lucius laughed at the remark with Lillian following along with a slight chuckle. Lillian then set her back to the ground on her feet. She felt locked in despite the freedom given. She shook and trembled, unsure what to do.
Lillian knelt down to her height presenting a loaf of bread. "Here you look hungry."
A hunger long forgotten overtook her. "C-c-can I?"
With Lillian reassurance the bread was taken and gobbled up. Before she could realize it, the bread was now gone.
"Come one Lillian. Let's go, Ek and Kel are waiting for us at Berg." Lucius looked posed and ready to leave.
"Alright, go run off to your parents."
This time Kalika found herself glued to where she stood. This time the feeling of sadness welled up from her very being. Lillian examined this, noticing her trembling as she grabbed the hemp of her mostly torn clothes.
"Are you... Alone?"
She found herself nodding in the affirmative.
Seeing this, Lillian turned Lucius. "Hey Lucius, can I keep this one?"
Lucius crossed his arm, sighing. "What for?"
"I have that special someone I think deserves a little friend. She's been a good girl so maybe a maid will be a fine reward."
"Do what you want. But remember… The girl is your responsibility."
Lillian gave a gentle smile looking back at her. She patted Kalika on the head happily.
"You hear that! From now on you'll get food every day. Just as long as you work hard of course! But only if your up to it."
Kalika was bewildered to see Lillian act so generously. she couldn't remember the last time she's seen her sister this compassionate. It was a rare sight that she couldn't believe.
"So how about it?"
Tears started to fall from her face. She could recognize that she was now crying as the girl's voice arose once again. "Thank you."
Lillian allowed the girl to let her own emotions out and after a little waiting she asked the girl a question. "Do you have a name?"
She shook her head no.
"Hmmm... Then how about Rho-…"
Lillian's voice faded away as the world suddenly became white.
"Huh?! W-wait!!"
Kalika awoke to find the Three Demon Lady carrying bowls of what seemed to be cooked organs.
"W-wait a minute. What's going on??" Kalika looked on in confusion seeing the bowls of food she shuddered as the three woman smiled sinisterly sinister smile.
"
She's suddenly pinned to the wall and with a fierce smile Daji conjured her blood spear and stuck it through Kalika's Right hand! She repeated this with her left as Kalika is left to scream out in pain.
"I-I-I'm not hungry!" Kalika yelped.
Daji laughed. "
Daji Cut a piece of the first organ, feeding it forcefully to Kalika. She spat it back out in her face. Daji quickly slapped her in the face. She then forces the same spat out food back into her mouth, this time pinching her nose. With this Kalika is forced to swallow.
Kalika felt gross and sick to her stomach. Daji, seeing Kalika tearing up laughed. They continued to feed and feed and feed Kalika until there was nothing in the bowls left.
"T-t-th-those bastards!"
Just as Kalika believed that they were all done, Florin brought up another bowl, this time filled with strange pink-brownish mushy looking slop. "O-oh god."
Valam pinched Kalika's nose as Daji started to feed the slop directly to Kalika. She didn't understand what it was, but she understood that she did not want to eat this.
As she swallowed, she felt something unnaturally hard and small enter with each spoonful being fed. Eventually, Daji Picked up a spoonful that made her laugh. "
Daji presented the spoon to Kalika gleefully, Leaving Kalika horrified. The other demon women giggled alongside Daji as a single pink eye is displayed to Kalika.
"N-no!! W-w-why!!!!??"
Kalika tried with all her might to resist but is forced down the spoonful of slop.
The three women laughed and laughed just by looking at Kalika's shell-shocked expression. She felt queasy, it was a miracle she made it as far as she did. After a short build up she barfed up the force meal. Its contents splashing onto the three ladies.
Kalika drooped her head down in defeat. Shaken from the sudden revelation, she felt herself become cold and unwell.
Daji furiously grabbed Kalika's face forcing her the now gloomy Kalika to look at her.
"
Shortly after loud screaming is echoed past all the steel doors and throughout the entire dungeon floor. It was soo loud that practically every guard on the floor could hear it.
"
Daji laughed off Valams concerns . "
"
"
"
Daji chuckled hearing her posse. "
Kalika could only look on tearfully as she now had to prepare herself for the cruelty she would be forced to face.