I open my eyes, facing the ceiling of a prison cell. "Damn it," I curse while getting up from bed. I glance sideways, noticing Remi, who is laying unconsciously on her own bed.
The cell seems to be surrounded by six barriers on all sides. "Blood Vortex!" The swirling mass of blood is quelled by the shield.
Remi wakes up shortly, spitting a few brutal curses before coming to her senses. "We're trapped."
This wonderfully clever statement makes my teeth grit. Remi lifts her body from her bed and begins charging up lightning. "Maximum Voltage!"
Remi's lightning coated hand attempts to pierce the shield, only for her to be repulsed backwards. The shield doesn't even budge, causing Remi to spit out curses.
"I have a plan, but it is risky." Remi watches me with great interest. I glance left and right, noticing the absence of food.
"Unless they want to starve us to death, we're bound to receive food," I reply. "If we can just overpower whoever brings our food, we can escape."
"Heck, Vio, you're a genius!" Remi declares, a wide grin formed on her lips.
Then, I sense two people from the outside. Their soft footsteps can barely be heard. I put my finger on my lips, signalling for Remi to stay silent.
"There are two people outside. Prepare your lightning." My red blood sword is firmly gripped, a bullet of sweat forming on my forehead.
The barrier begins to melt. Remi jumps with a battle cry, her hand aimed at the neck of the poor guy who is bringing us food.
"Dance of Bones!" Four long, sharp, pipe bones sprint through the air, pinning Remi onto the barrier on the other side.
The Princess of Terror appears, her cold eyes locked on the pinned Remi. "Third Eye, open!"
The same black hole that I saw on the White Witch's forehead opens on the Princess of Terror's forehead. Her bodyguard, the masked woman I saw earlier, puts her sword on my chest after putting the food tray on a nearby table. The Princess of Terror walks slowly on the metal floor, gripping Remi's throat. Blue gas comes out from her mouth; her mana is being stolen.
"The Third Eye is a special power only available to the most powerful vampires," the Princess of Terror comments after witnessing my gaping mouth. "Each vampire has their own unique skill when they unlock the Third Eye."
"I can steal mana and even souls," she continues, "understand that you cannot escape from this cell. Not that you can even with your mana–but especially not without it."
"We will get out," I reply firmly.
"We shall see."
"Tch," Remi curses, "you bastard, locking us up in this disgusting cell ...."
"Oh? Is it not comfortable enough for a noblewoman like you?" The Princess of Terror raises her left eyebrow.
"Tch! You were just like us. You were enslaved and imprisoned too, so you should know how it feels. Yet here you are!"
"When I was imprisoned as a slave, I would be put into a cell two metres wide and two metres long, fed from dog bowls, and tortured and raped by dozens of men daily. I wasn't allowed even a piece of fabric to cover myself and I always slept sitting on a room filled with urine and spit and other disgusting liquids. Would you like to try that?"
Remi grits her teeth. The Princess of Terror spits on her face. "Snobbish noble. Our sufferings were hundreds of thousands of kilometres apart."
"You ...."
"Well, quite a few people have offered huge payments for you," the Princess of Terror comments casually, "Lady Jessica doesn't want to sell you, but I guess I can convince her otherwise. We can find you a particularly cruel master that you will enjoy." She then flashes her disturbing smile.
"I'm not an object that you can simply sell!" Remi hotly replies. My eyes jolt at her; her opponent is a being capable of disintegrating us without even batting an eyelash, and nobody knows what she might do if Remi manages to piss her off enough.
"Perhaps. Do you want to be rented out instead? We have 'unofficial' relations with a few brothels." The Princess of Terror smirks at Remi, who has lost her words. "I thought so. Now be a good girl and keep quiet."
The masked woman lowers her blade before putting it back on its sheath. "Call our snake girl," the Princess of Terror orders as she walks away from a furious Remi.
"Was she not a failed experiment?" The disturbingly familiar voice and the bright red hair haunt me again.
"Even failures can be recycled." The Princess of Terror taps my forehead, causing blue gas to come out of my mouth. The gas condenses into some sort of ball, which she consumes.
A peculiarly familiar ebony girl arrives. Her eyes are yellow; similar to a snake's. Her tongue is thin and forked and her skin is somewhat pale on a few areas. "You called for me, Princess of Terror."
"The two of you will guard outside in turns," the Princess of Terror orders before stepping on the cold marble floor outside. She attracts her bones to her, causing Remi to fall down.
The ebony girl and the masked woman follow suit and the Princess of Terror sews back the shield. The ebony girl throws me a smirk.
"Remi, are you okay?" I rush to the other side of the cell, where Remi is clutching her wounded arm after quickly wiping off the Princess of Terror's spit on her face.
"Not exactly," she replies. I tear off a part of my robe, using the brown fabric to wrap Remi's wound.
"Shouldn't have made her angry," Remi admits.
Remi lays down herself on her bed. "What are we going to do now?" Remi whispers softly.
"I don't know," I admit, my limited tactical brilliance having been outmaneuvered. "That snake girl is still outside."
"Dita Luxor."
"What?"
Remi stares at me. "That snake girl is Dita Luxor."
"Impossible," I reply. "She is locked up in a prison cell in Irvine."
"I think you're underestimating the political power that Archdukes have."
"She's right, haha!" Dita's sinister voice booms outside. "I had my father bail me out. That old man sure has his usefulness."
"And Remi, you're so pathetic. Why bother becoming an Imperial Guard and risking your life foolishly? You don't even have the necessary power to protect yourself!"
"Well, maybe because I'm not a bloody traitor who uses her own father for her own benefits!" Remi shoots back, triggering Dita's laughs.
"You're just an idiot," Dita mocks.
Dita stays silent shortly after that. I grab the food tray from the table, seeing a loaf of white bread, two cans of meatloaf, and two cans of chicken and potatoes.
"I don't remember Dita being a snake," I say quietly as I open a can of chicken and potatoes.
"I don't, either. She used to use fire magic, that's it."
I bite my lips forcefully. "The guards are a problem, but failure to break through this barrier means all our escape attempts are void. If we can combine my Blood Bone Serpent with your Thunder Phoenix, we might be able to pierce the barrier."
"Then let us wait until our mana replenishes ...."