Rilliana and Trisha

6: Fallen Angels

Trisha awoke from a restless sleep when she felt one of the walls of her padded prison open and a brightly lit corridor appeared behind it. She could hear voices and jumped to her feet. Ready to fight, she waited for Faluden's henchmen to burst into her cell and overpower her, but her claws would not make it easy for them.

"Come on, you cowards!" she shouted into the hallway, but no one answered her. Trisha frowned and licked her dry lips. She cautiously walked to the door and looked left and right into the hallway. Her cell was located at the end of a long corridor, and she could see other doors, but they were locked. The hallway itself was as clean as Celine's laboratory and had been made of smooth white stone. She immediately thought that her sister was behind it. Trisha began to calm down. This was probably some kind of emergency shelter built by Celine, and her suit had brought Trisha here to escape the fireball. She put on a smile and walked toward a nearby corner in the hallway, behind which she could hear voices.

"Quick, load that up! If she realizes we're behind schedule, we'll soon be filling this cell!" hissed a panicked female voice, and Trisha slowed her pace when she couldn't match the voice to a face.

"Do you think I feel like doing this? Help me, or I'll tell her it's your fault!" replied another voice, also unknown to her. As quietly as possible, Trisha crept to the corner and cautiously peeked around it. Two women were kneeling next to a trolley covered in cleaning supplies. Around it lay several bottles and brooms, which they quickly picked up. At first, Trisha had doubts that this was really one of Celine's facilities, but when she saw the women's shiny uniforms, she knew her sister couldn't be far away. The two women wore turquoise nurse's uniforms made of the same slime material as her own suit. They also wore masks that covered the lower half of their faces.

"She's going to…" one of them began, looking up when she noticed Trisha's face in the corner. She turned pale and froze.

"Why are you stopping, you know as well as I do…"

The other followed her gaze and spotted Trisha.

"What's she doing out of her cell?" she whispered, turning as pale as her colleague.

"What are you asking me? You're in charge of the doors!" hissed the other, and both cautiously stood up and slowly backed away from Trisha.

"Hey, wait, I won't hurt you, this is all a huge misunderstanding!" Trisha called after them, but the two women only seemed to become more agitated.

"Celine is my big sister, she must have told you about me!"

Trisha could see in the nurses' eyes that they weren't listening to her. They turned and ran away as if Trisha were a monster threatening to devour them.

"That backfired," Trisha muttered and began to follow them at a distance, not wanting to scare the women any further. Once again, she heard panicked voices and loud shouts directed at her, and then suddenly silence. Trisha exhaled deeply as she reached another corner.

"Don't worry, I'm NOT armed," she said and walked around the corner. She entered a huge room that was a hundred times larger than Faluden's warehouse. The walls and ceiling of the hall were made of the same smooth, white material as the corridors and offered no footholds for climbing. At regular intervals, barred doors were embedded in the walls, presumably leading into the interior of the facility. A large glass dome was mounted on the ceiling, offering an unobstructed view of the entire space. Everything was brightly lit with magical lights, but it felt cold and uninviting. Trisha began to have doubts, but this could still be her sister's facility.

"Right?" she asked, turning her attention forward and examining the five women in front of her who were blocking the way. Four of them were wearing light blue catsuits, while the one in the middle, whom Trisha assumed to be their leader, wore a dark blue one. They all had batons in their hands and looked as if they were ready to use them. Behind them were the two nurses, who were trembling like leaves.

"Please, I just want to see my sister Celine," said Trisha, raising her hands in a conciliatory gesture. Trisha heard a soft, dull sound, and a second later something took her breath away, as if someone had punched her in the chest. She was thrown backwards by the enormous force and doubled over in pain. Only when the women stood next to her and pressed her to the floor did she manage to think clearly again.

"Was that really necessary?" Trisha groaned as her hands were roughly pressed behind her back and secured with handcuffs.

“Be quiet, prisoner, and identify yourself!”

"I already told you, I'm Celine's sister Tri…!" the shifter hissed through clenched teeth before the guards tightened their grip and Trisha fell silent from the pain.

“Your number, prisoner!”

"What number? Let me go, we can talk about everything!" Trisha tried to get up and fought against the women's grip.

"It's no use, knock her out."

“Excuse me?” Trisha said, turning her head to the side to see what they were talking about. A baton shot forward and struck her head. She immediately collapsed and lost consciousness.

“Take her to interrogation cell A, I’ll deal with her there, and wake the director. I think she’ll want to have a word with the shifter too.”

“Yes, Warden Rabea!”

The guards bowed to the woman dressed in dark blue, and while two of them dragged Trisha away, the other two ran to the director's quarters.

“Now for you,” said the leader, turning to the nurses, “report to the director’s office too.”

Both women looked at her in horror, but didn't dare open their mouths. They bowed to Rabea and walked toward the office with their heads bowed.

 

Rilliana felt a violent tremor shake the house. Confused, she got out of bed and rubbed her eyes. Rilliana quietly went downstairs and heard Terra start to argue.

“What the hell was that, Celine?”

"My table…" Celine said coldly, and Rilliana heard her walk into the hallway and past Tea. Her heels clicked on the stone floor until she climbed the stairs. She walked past Rilliana, but didn't even look at her.

"Celine, I…" Rilliana began, but she didn't seem to see the elf. She watched uncertainly as she climbed the remaining steps and slammed the door to her room.

She blames me… Rilliana thought, feeling tears running down her cheeks again. She ran to her room and locked herself in. Terra could only watch. Watch as her new friends were consumed by anger, grief, and fear.

 

Trisha woke up again and cursed the headache that now plagued her. She blinked and looked around, realizing that this time she was not in a soft cell. Instead, she was hanging by her wrists, a hand's breadth above the floor. Bright light shone in her face, blinding her so that she could only make out two shadows that seemed to be watching her.

"There was no need to knock me unconscious!" she growled at the shadows, squinting to make out more details of her captors.

"What is your number, prisoner?" someone asked, and Trisha recognized the leader's voice.

"As I said before, I have NO number and I am not a prisoner !" Trisha said irritably, gritting her teeth.

"If you're not a prisoner, then why were you in one of the cells?"

"I don't know. I somehow ended up here!"

"Somehow ended up here…" Rabea repeated, frowning as she looked at the other woman in the room. The woman gave nothing away and continued to observe Trisha.

"What's your name?"

“How about you untie me first before I answer any more questions?!” Trisha hissed, pulling at her restraints, which only cut deeper into her wrists.

“Director?” Rabea asked, looking at the other person again. Trisha saw her shake her head and make a twisting motion with her wrist, like Celine did when she turned on one of her inventions. A small flash appeared on Trisha’s handcuffs, but the shifter didn’t seem to notice. Trisha looked questioningly at both shadows.

"Should something happen now? If so, you're the worst magician I've ever seen… Maybe I can ask my sister Celine if she can give you a few tips."

The director flinched, and the other two women gave her a questioning look.

"Director?" asked Rabea.

"Leave us alone," whispered the director, barely audibly.

"Of course, Director, if you need me, I'll be in my office."

She bowed and left the interrogation room. When the door closed, Trisha felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped ten degrees. She swallowed.

"Listen… If you would just let me explain, we could all go home and laugh about this tonight. Because this is all just a huge misunderstanding."

"Tell me, Trisha, who made your suit?"

Trisha blinked. How did she know her name? And why ask about her suit?

"How do you know my name?" Trisha evaded the question.

"I know you from before."

"Really? Well then, you can just let me out of here, can't you? As a little favor between old friends."

"After all these years, you still have such a big mouth. I'm sure Celine often gagged you."

Trisha wanted to say something in reply, but then closed her mouth.

"If you really can't remember, I don't blame you. After all, it was a long time ago…"

The director stood up from her chair and walked toward Trisha. She pushed the light aside, and Trisha gasped when she realized who the director was.

"I thought you were dead!" Trisha stammered as she recognized the demon who had made her life hell years ago. Memories now bubbled back up. Memories she had banished to the deepest corners of her mind.

“Dead? Nah, Celine probably didn’t tell you everything that happened back then. She almost killed me, admittedly, it was my own fault and I’m not even mad at her for it, but now that I see you like this in one of my suits…”

Jinara paused briefly and ran her hand over Trisha's stomach, letting it wander below her breasts.

“I’d love to scratch her eyes out!”

Her hand pinched Trisha's suit and the shifter suppressed a cry of pain as she kneaded her nipple between her fingers.

"Your suits?" Trisha asked, trying to turn away.

"Of course she never told you that either, did she? It was me who turned the slime into something useful, not your thieving sister."

Jinara's hand moved further up Trisha's back, and Trisha breathed a sigh of relief .

"Now I know how you got in here. Not long ago, I wanted to visit Celine, maybe even apologize. But she wasn't there. Just a big hole in the wall where her door used to be. I wanted to wait for her and see what she was working on. But then I saw two of my suits on her table, the ones you're wearing right now. As you can imagine, I was more than angry, but I decided to keep a cool head and wove an invitation to my humble home into the suits. I thought Celine would eventually follow it and find me. But instead, you're here now," Jinara said, giving Trisha a light pat on the butt.

"I could go get Celine for you if you want," Trisha asked nervously.

"How I hate your loose lips," Jinara replied, shaking her head. "You'll never see the light of day again, Trisha. Just like all my other prisoners. No one knows where you are, and no one will ever find you."

Trisha's pulse quickened. Rilliana would find a way to get her out of here. But maybe Jinara was right: how would her friend know where she was? Rilliana might believe she had perished in the fire, like Faluden's henchmen.

"I'm going back to my office now, and I wish you a pleasant stay in my institution. I doubt you'll ever see me again, but don't worry, I'll always be keeping an eye on you," Jinara said, walking toward the door.

"Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you!" Trisha blurted out. She had always wanted them to be friends. Instead, she had only experienced scorn and ridicule. Pain and punishment. Jinara stopped.

"You're right. You didn't," she said with a smile. She glanced back at Trisha and looked her up and down.

"But a particularly rare specimen like you will be very useful here. Oohh, how I've missed our experiments."

Trisha froze as an ice-cold hand closed around her heart.

"Welcome to the prison of fallen angels," Jinara said, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Trisha was left alone in the barren interrogation room. She found it difficult to breathe and sweat beaded on her forehead.

 

Jinara exhaled deeply and contentedly as the door closed, and smiled with satisfaction. For the first time in a long time, she felt a joy within her that seemed to invigorate her whole body and quicken her steps.

"Calm down, Jinara," she admonished herself. After all, she had to maintain a certain level of professionalism. Her smile was replaced by an indifferent expression, and she strode quickly to Supervisor Rabea's office so that she could get Trisha into prison as soon as possible. Jinara knocked on the door and opened it. Rabea immediately rose from her desk and saluted.

"Warden?"

"Supervisor Rabea, please take personal care of our newest prisoner. She is my most important guest as of today, and I would find it a great pity if she were to get the wrong impression of my institution."

"Very well, Madam Director. May I ask what color code she should be given?" asked Rabea. Jinara paused and thought for a moment.

"I think red would suit her perfectly. Don't you think?"

Rabea frowned but did not ask any further questions and bowed.

"As you wish," she said. Jinara walked over to the glass dome high above her "playground," as she called it. A masterpiece of magic and technology, it was perfect for the daily games her prisoners could play if they wanted something to eat. She trembled with excitement as she opened the door and began to grin diabolically when she saw her control panel, which she could use to control her entire prison.

"Ooooh, we're going to have so much fun," Jinara murmured, stroking her console, sitting down in her chair, and rubbing her fingers together. She was about to create today's attraction when she noticed a movement in the corner of her eye.

"What are you doing here?" she asked harshly when she saw the two nurses who had humbly bowed their heads to the floor and squeaked fearfully when she addressed them.

"Mistress, Supervisor Rabea sent us to you after the prisoner escaped. It was our fault, and we beg your forgiveness!" said one of them, making herself even smaller. Jinara didn't give them another glance and manipulated the control panel with her magic to create walls and obstacles on it. At the same time, loud noises could be heard in the square below them, echoing throughout the hall.

"It wasn't your fault that she escaped," the director murmured thoughtfully.

"Oh, thank you, mistress, thank you very much!" they both said in unison and carefully got up from the floor.

"However, I did not give you permission to get up."

The two women exchanged nervous glances and knelt down again.

"This should be a fitting welcome gift for Trisha," said Jinara, giving the console one last command. Satisfied, she nodded and rose from her chair. Jinara stretched and walked over to the glass pane that separated her from the hall. Below her stretched a labyrinth that she had filled with traps and obstacles. She bit her lower lip and put on a diabolical smile again as she looked at her life's work.

"Let's see if you still have such a big mouth tonight, Trisha… You there! Come here!" she ordered the two women. Jinara wanted to enjoy the view and have a comfortable place to sit . The two women came in handy.

 

Trisha didn't know what to expect, and she didn't want to find out. She had to get away, and as quickly as possible. She carefully lifted her legs and gritted her teeth as her restraints cut deep into her wrists. When her boots came within reach of her hands, she breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out her lock pick. Slowly, she lowered her legs again and exhaled sharply.

"By the gods, no wonder Rilliana called her safeword back then!" she muttered and began to work on the lock. Trisha felt warmth at her fingertips and looked up in confusion. The lock pick seemed to glow after she inserted it into the handcuff lock, and she hastily let go of it when it threatened to burn her fingers. The lock pick landed on the floor next to her with a clatter.

"Shit."

The door to the interrogation room opened and the guard came in, followed by two women in light blue catsuits.

"I see we've been busy," said the woman when she saw the still-glowing lock pick on the floor.

"I am Chief Guard Rabea, and you are in the private prison for fallen angels. As you have probably already noticed, things work a little differently here than in ordinary prisons. Thanks to the director's magic, your prison has the highest level of security…"

"Can you get me down from here, my hands are starting to go numb," Trisha interrupted Rabea's speech and stared at her, unimpressed. She wasn't afraid of a wannabe guard. Rabea raised an eyebrow but nodded to her employees. The two women in the lighter catsuits pulled Trisha down and forced her to kneel on the floor.

"You have a loose tongue, Shifter," Rabea remarked, pressing her baton under Trisha's chin.

"Depends who you ask," Trisha replied, staring stubbornly into the supervisor's eyes. She could have sworn she saw the hint of a smile on Rabea's lips.

“The warden wants you with the other prisoners as soon as possible. Can I count on you to obey and not cause any trouble so we can get this over with quickly?”

"Untie her and find out."

Rabea shook her head and signaled to the two women. Trisha was roughly grabbed from behind and pushed to the ground again while Rabea pulled a metal brooch out. She pressed it against Trisha’s neck, and the shifter felt it spread and turn into a tight collar.

“Take off the suit, shifter,” Rabea said as the two women released Trisha and untied her hands. Trisha smiled slyly and was about to make short work of her guards with her claws when an electric shock robbed her of all control over her body and she fell to the floor, twitching.

“Get her out of there,” Rabea said, almost bored, leaning down to Trisha’s face.

"It's a shame that the suit is the only thing protecting you from the electricity, isn't it? Any violence against guards is nipped in the bud with this invention," she said, tapping Trisha's collar, which was attached above her suit. A short time later, the guards had undressed Trisha and taken her suit. She stood up cautiously, her face reddened, and glared at Rabea.

"What now? Are all the prisoners going to run around the prison naked?" Trisha asked irritably, covering her body as best she could with her hands.

"If I may give you a tip for the future… my subordinates are far more… let's say, energetic in the performance of their duties and might not find you as amusing as I do."

"Oh, thank you very much," Trisha replied through gritted teeth. Rabea shook her head again and said, "Activate collar. Code red. Prisoner number 5703."

The collar around Trisha's neck beeped briefly and the shifter felt a warm liquid spread over her body. Trisha looked down at herself and watched with fascination as red slime covered her entire body below her neck, except for her tail.

"Couldn't I have kept my suit if you were going to give me an almost identical one anyway?" Trisha asked, but then she noticed the material. It had become much thicker and seemed to be resisting her. It restricted her movements, forcing her body to stand upright with her arms at her sides. Her claws were also unable to pierce the new suit. Rabea smiled contentedly at Trisha's strained expression as she struggled to lift her arm.

"Code red suits are usually for our strongest and most dangerous prisoners, and at first I thought the director was exaggerating when she gave you one too, but I think it will suit you perfectly," said Rabea, attaching a leash to Trisha's collar.

"I'm not convinced yet. Could I have my suit back, please?"

Rabea pulled Trisha toward her with the leash.

"You haven't seen everything yet. 5703 straitjacket two!"

Trisha felt the suit grow over her fingers, and she forced her arms to cross under her chest. Behind her back, the sleeves tied together, rendering the shifter helpless. In addition, a rope stretched between her ankles, preventing any thought of running away.

“Better?” Rabea asked. Trisha said nothing and stared down at her body with a blank look.

"You two take her to a cell so she can rest a little longer. I have a feeling the director has a great spectacle planned for her today," she added, turning to her guards and pressing the leash into their hands before leaving the room. The two women in light blue suits had no smiles on their lips and stared at Trisha emotionlessly. Something told the shifter that she’d better keep her mouth shut, and she waited to be led away by her guards.

"Well, well, she knows what silence means after all," said one of them, pulling roughly on the leash to get Trisha to follow. She stumbled after her as best she could with her leg restraints. The three of them walked through the white corridors of the prison, passing various doors. One of the guards explained the daily routine to Trisha, but the shifter wasn't listening, instead studying the layout of the rooms and corridors to find a possible escape route.

"Here we are," the guard finally said, opening the cell Trisha had fallen into. "You still have a little time before the games begin. Have fun on the 'playground,' 5703."

Trisha was pushed roughly into the cell and fell onto the soft floor. The door closed behind her and her restraints loosened, allowing Trisha to use her arms and legs again. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Fighting against the suit, Trisha raised her hands and felt for her collar, which was tight around her neck. If she wanted to escape from here, she had to get rid of it first, but she found neither a keyhole nor any other weak spot in the ring and let her arms drop in disappointment.

"Shit," she whispered as she realized she would be spending a long time here.

 

A young demoness hopped excitedly around her small room, looking at her new dress in the mirror. The black garment clung tightly to her skin and shone in the light. Every detail of her upper body was visible through the refined slime material, and she had incorporated a slit on the side that allowed a glimpse of her seductively long legs. Her tail wagged happily behind her in the air. Jinara grinned. She had finally managed to create something unique from these useless creatures. As she lost herself in her reflection, she thought about the future and all the possibilities her creation could bring. Celine's machine was finally working, thanks to her new formula, and she couldn't wait to present it to the world.

"I have to show this to Celine first!" she thought, and rushed out of her room. In her excitement, she forgot to duck, so her horns scraped against the doorframe, and she hurried to the basement of Celine's house, where she had left her friend and mentor. She carefully walked past the still-wet canvas depicting Celine's current situation and looked up in awe at her friend, who hovered above her like a goddess. At first glance, it looked as if vines and flowers adorned her body and held her above the ground. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that ropes were wrapped around Celine's body beneath the plants. They were woven into an intricate pattern around her legs, winding up her body and stretching her arms apart. Her scarlet hair was intertwined with another rope decorated with white roses and pulled back, forcing Celine to stare at the ceiling.

"Celine, I did it!" Jinara exclaimed joyfully, untying the ropes that held Celine to the ceiling. She landed on the floor like an angel, and the bonds came loose as if by themselves. Celine groaned briefly as she regained control of her arms and began to massage them.

"What do you mean, Jinara?" Celine asked, squinting as she felt the blood returning to her limbs.

"Open your eyes!" demanded Jinara, posing in front of her friend. Celine opened one eye wearily and looked up at her demonic friend. She began to blink in disbelief when she saw Jinara's shiny black dress, and her jaw dropped.

"You did it!"

"I already told you that!" Jinara said with feigned indignation and turned around to show off her body to the witch.

"How did you do that?"

"I'll explain as soon as you get dressed," Jinara said, throwing Celine pants and a shirt as she stood up and caressed her own body.

"Just imagine what we could make with this!" murmured the student, licking her lips.

"Slow down. We should run a few tests first," said Celine, putting on the shirt and pulling her hair out of the collar.

"I'm already testing it, and my solution is perfect! Come on, I have to show you!" said Jinara, reaching out her hand to pull Celine up. Celine managed to zip up her pants just before running after her. The whole time, she stared at her friend's shiny body until they arrived at Jinara's study and stood in front of the machine.

"What did you change about our machine?" Celine asked, examining the apparatus. "It doesn't look any different from our last attempts, does it?"

"It was very simple," said Jinara, pointing to a funnel at one end of the machine. "The material goes in there, and at the end, processable, stable material comes out. It was right under our noses the whole time!"

Celine frowned.

"I understand that, Jinara. I mean, how did you manage to keep the material from losing its shape once you turned it into the dress?"

"Well… I didn't," said Jinara with a grin that sent a shiver down Celine's spine again and again. But she didn't let on and waited for Jinara's explanation.

"I wondered how the slimes themselves could retain their shape even though they are mindless creatures, but then I asked myself: What if I just fed them completely to the machine and not just the secretions, as we always do?"

Celine's eyebrows furrowed seriously when she heard this.

"You threw my slimes into the machine?" she asked with a trembling voice, but Jinara didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, it's stupid that we didn't think of it before," Jinara said, stroking the shiny material.

"This will change the world. Imagine, finally these disgusting monsters can be useful for something! No shortage of clothing, armor that can heal the wounds of its wearers. And if we could enchant them well enough, we could perhaps turn them into powerful combat suits! Indestructible and with endless possibilities for use! So, what do you say?" Jinara asked, turning to Celine when she realized she wasn't answering. She paused when she saw the tears in Celine's eyes.

"How could you?" Celine asked, her voice trembling with suppressed anger.

"How could I?" Jinara asked indignantly, slamming one hand on the machine while the other clutched her cleavage. "I created the future here!"

"Not like this. Not if we have to sacrifice my pets for it," Celine said, shaking her head in disgust.

"Oh, don't pretend you gave them all names! They're disgusting and just waiting for me to turn them into something wonderful, like the picture below or your shifter sister!"

SMACK

"Get out!" Celine said. Her voice trembled with rage. Jinara's eyes were wide and her mouth hung open in horror. Her hand held the red mark on her face. She stared at Celine in disbelief.

"You're putting the lives of these monsters…"

SMACK

"Get out, now! I don't want… I can't look at you anymore! Now I understand everything! All the signs I ignored!"

Silence spread through the room as tears rolled down Celine's cheeks. Without a word, Jinara went to her bed and pulled a backpack from underneath it. She threw books, clothes, and other belongings into it and walked through the door. She bumped roughly into Celine's shoulder as she passed her and left the house. Celine followed her and was about to close the door behind her when Jinara spoke again: "You planned this from the beginning, didn't you? As soon as I made the breakthrough you could never achieve, you took everything from me."

"That's not true!" Celine said, clenching her hands into fists.

"Oh yes, it's been your thing from the beginning! Even when I tied you up, you couldn't help but stay in control! Every time I had an idea, I had to ask your permission! As if I were nothing more than your servant! No! Your slave! After all, it's your fault that I can never go home again! But the time of slavery is over! WE ARE DONE! Give me my machine, I'll continue without you!"

Celine just shook her head, still trying to suppress the storm raging inside her.

"My fault? Yes… your machine? After what you did to my pets? What you… by the gods…" Celine began to sob as she finally understood what Trisha had to endure.

"NOW!" Jinara shouted, raising a hand threateningly and letting magic flow into it. Celine grimaced in pain and raised her own hand.

"Don't do it, Jinara… If you do, there will be no turning back for us!" Celine said coldly.

"Back? Back to your shadow? Don't be ridiculous! I will create the future!" Jinara shouted, and a fireball shot from her hand at Celine. As if in slow motion, Celine saw the fireball coming toward her, but suddenly she felt no anger, only sadness. She cast her own spell and threw it at the fireball. The two spells collided and exploded with a deafening bang. Celine was thrown back into the house and slid across the hallway. She made no attempt to get up and simply lay there while the house burned brightly. Tears now streamed down her cheeks and she felt as if she had lost all her strength. Her screams echoed throughout the house.

 

The sun rose, bathing Celine's bedroom in red light. Its rays hit a painting on the wall depicting a woman whose body was overgrown with vines. She seemed to be flying toward the sky, looking up at it hopefully. Celine sat on her bed, one arm wrapped tightly around her legs and a wine bottle in the other. She stared at the picture and tried to make sense of it all.

"Ten years, Jinara, ten years you've been gone. Ten years you've left me believing that I killed you… my best friend. And now that I know you're still alive, you kidnap my sister? How could I have been so stupid," she muttered, taking a big gulp from the wine bottle.

"AND NOW WHAT? SHOULD I CRAWL TO YOU ON MY KNEES AND APOLOGIZE?" she yelled at the painting and threw her bottle at it. She missed the picture and the bottle shattered against the wall. Shards scattered throughout the room and red splatters spattered the wall and floor. Her fingers dug into her bed, leaving scratch marks, until a wave of weakness overwhelmed her and she had to support her head. Celine didn't look up when there was a knock at the door and just said in a dull voice, "Come in."

Celine let herself fall back onto her pillow. Terra opened the door and looked at her friend.

"Should I be worried, Celine?" she asked.

"No. I'm just thinking about what to do next."

Terra looked around the room and examined the shards and wine stains on the floor and walls.

"Looks like it … Celine, you don't have to do this alone. Rilliana and I can help you. Rilliana has been asking about you all night after you stormed into your room without saying a word."

"She did?" Celine asked emotionlessly, continuing to stare at the ceiling. Terra sighed quietly and walked back to the door.

"I promised to look after Rilliana, but I don't know if I want to stop her if she decides to go looking for Trisha on her own. She needs you," said Terra, closing the door behind her as she went back downstairs. As she passed Rilliana's room, Terra heard sobbing through the door. Concerned, she reached for the handle but hesitated.

"What am I doing here?" she muttered, lowering her hand. She continued into the living room and sank into the armchair.

"If I could at least reach my contacts, then maybe I could find out where Trisha has gone. Damn Faluden," she muttered, folding her fingers under her chin. She let her gaze wander around the room and noticed a small framed picture on the mantelpiece. It showed Celine, Trisha, Rilliana, and Terra, arm in arm.

They were all wearing their catsuits and beaming with joy. Celine had used her magic to capture the happy moment.

"It's all my fault," she muttered, placing the picture on his face. Terra heard footsteps behind her and saw Celine swaying down the stairs.

"Have you thought of something?" Terra asked, but she got no answer. Celine disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared a short time later with a new bottle of wine in her hand.

"Are you serious?" Terra asked, rushing toward Celine and pushing her against the wall.

"Is that your plan? To get drunk on wine and wait for Rilliana to leave? What have you found out? Let's finally help!"

Celine looked at her and opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she raised the bottle to take a sip. Terra's eyebrow twitched and she knocked the bottle out of Celine's hand.

"Stop it! You've had enough to drink!" she admonished Celine, staring at her angrily.

"What do you want me to say, Terra? That I know where my sister is? I don't! I have no idea! The only thing I know is that Jinara took her from me! Damn it! She could do something horrible to her again. If it weren't for this egg, I wouldn't even know she was gone. Trisha, she…"

Celine fell silent. Terra smelled wine on her breath. She saw her lips trembling. But she listened.

"Jinara?" she asked calmly, and you could see her mind starting to race.

"My… an old… I don't know what she is now, Terra. I thought she was dead, and now… I can't do this, Terra, she was…"

Celine fell silent again, this time to break free from Terra's grip. Terra let her go and watched Celine disappear upstairs.

"Jinara," Terra murmured, licking her lips as the name seemed familiar.

From the documents from the meeting of the lords? From home? Terra wondered, stroking her chin thoughtfully.

"If I manage to contact my girls, I could…" Terra murmured.

 

Rilliana sat silently by the door, listening as Celine stumbled back up the stairs.

"Jinara, then," Rilliana murmured and went to the closet where she kept her bow. Now she had a name. Now she could do something. She didn't know exactly what, but now she couldn't just sit around.

I need my things. My suit, my … Rilliana thought, but her thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at the door. Rilliana looked up as the door opened and Terra stepped in front of her. She looked at her sympathetically.

"Are you all right, Rilliana?" she asked when she saw the elf's tear-stained face. She just nodded, put on a fake smile, and went to her dresser to take out a few lock picks. Terra sat down on Rilliana's bed and patted the spot next to her to encourage the elf to pause. Rilliana just shook her head and counted the arrows in her quiver instead.

"You were listening, weren't you?" Terra asked, sighing. "Do you at least have a plan?"

Rilliana's smile disappeared.

"I don't need one. A name is all I need to find out where Trisha is."

"I may have seen the name Jinara in my records before. Maybe I can contact…"

"I'm sorry, Terra, but that's too many maybes for me. I think I have a better chance of finding this Jinara if I leave now. Leon's Keep will give me what I need."

"That sounds like a maybe to me, too. Besides, Faluden is looking for you and…"

"I can't stay here," Rilliana repeated, shouldering her bow.

"Rilliana… I can't let you go without a plan! Stay here and think it over with us…"

"Terra, that's not who I am. I can't wait for a maybe and do nothing until then. I have to go back."

"Please… let's just gather our strength and…"

"How long? An hour? A day? A week? Trisha may not have that much time."

“We have to wait. Where are you even going to start looking?”

"Like I said: Leon's Keep and from there…" Rilliana paused when Terra stood up and blocked her way. Rilliana glared at her and raised a finger warningly.

"Terra, get out of my way," she hissed.

"You don't really want to do that, Rilliana."

“No, but Trisha needs me, and no one is going to stop me from saving her now!”

"Are you even listening to yourself? How are you going to save her? You don't even know where she is! You're going to lose. To Jinara! To Faluden and to me, if you make the wrong decision here," Terra predicted, but made no move to defend herself.

Rilliana glared at her angrily, but then lowered her hand.

"You're right, that would be the wrong decision…" she muttered, placing a hand on her bed.

"Trust me. It won't be long before Trisha is back…" said Terra, as Rilliana grabbed the blanket from her bed and threw it over Terra's head with force. Annoyed, Terra pushed the blanket aside and realized that Rilliana had taken the opportunity to run past her into the hallway.

"All right! That's it, Rilliana!" She raised her hand toward the elf and cast a spell. Rilliana immediately stopped in her tracks and tried desperately to run forward. Glancing down at her legs, she saw her body turning gray and her skin hardening. She turned to Terra with a strained expression and stared at her accusingly.

"I'm sorry, Rilliana, but you leave me no choice," Terra whispered shamefully as her spell took complete hold of Rilliana and turned her into a stone statue.

 

Rilliana blinked as light fell into her eyes after who knows how long she had spent existing as a statue. She looked around in confusion and realized she was back in her room. Terra sat next to her, tightening one of the straps that bound Rilliana's body to her bed. Rilliana lifted her head to examine her restraints. Her arms and legs were pulled to the four corners of her bed. Additional straps were stretched above and below her breasts and across her pelvis, effectively pressing her into her mattress.

"A spell in the back? Dick move, Terra!" said Rilliana, letting her head fall back onto the pillows. Terra did not respond to her comment, instead pulling Rilliana's hip straps a little tighter so that she sank a finger's width further down.

"How long was I gone?"

"Eight days."

"TERRA, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU'LL BE SORRY. UNTIE ME RIGHT NOW!" Rilliana hissed, struggling unsuccessfully against her bonds. Terra looked calmly down at the elf and found a few more weak spots in the restraints. She placed her hand over Rilliana's mouth to silence her and said, "Calm down, I just wanted to see if the restraints were strong enough for you. It was only an hour. OW! DAMN IT, RILLIANA!" Terra cried out and hastily withdrew her hand when Rilliana bit it.

"You deserved that!" said Rilliana, turning her head away from Terra.

"That may be, but it was completely unnecessary! Even if you don't like it, you're staying in bed until I can trust you again. I can't risk you risking your life for a maybe, even if you hate me for it. We need information and a plan before we act. Didn't Trisha teach you that?" Terra appealed to Rilliana.

“Don’t say her name!” Rilliana hissed through clenched teeth. Terra sighed almost inaudibly and stood up.

"If you need anything, call me," Terra said, stroking Rilliana's hair and disappearing from the room. Rilliana heard Terra go into the kitchen to cook them something to eat. She looked up at the ceiling again.

"I don't hate you, Terra, you're right, but I still have to get out of here," Rilliana muttered as the wildest plans formed in her head, none of which would appease Terra. But first, she had to escape from the sorceress. She just had to wait for the right moment to free herself and disable Terra's magic. Rilliana tugged at her bonds to test them, but they were so tightly secured that she might as well have been lying in Celine's vacuum bed.

"She'll make a mistake eventually, and then I'll be there, Trish."

 

Day turned to night and night turned to day again, and Rilliana realized that Terra always played it safe with her. Rilliana spent most of her time tied up in bed. She was allowed to go to the bathroom on request to freshen up and to "stretch her legs" in the garden once a day.

"Terra, this is ridiculous! Wouldn't it be enough to tie my hands behind my back, and attach a leash to them?" Rilliana asked as she struggled to walk around the garden under Terra's watchful eye.

"Honestly, Rilliana? If I knew your puny muscles could carry more weight, I'd put you in a breastplate and ask Celine to weld it around you. I've already found four of your lock picks in the bathroom and in bed. Where do you get these things?"

"Professional secrecy!"

"Professional secret my ass! If you want to go into the garden, you'll get the full package from me. End of discussion."

Rilliana pouted. If the situation hadn't been so tense, she would have found the whole thing funny, but instead she limped grumpily through the garden with half a dozen chains between her legs. Her arms were stuck in a tight leather bag that pressed her hands behind her neck and prevented her from moving even a finger. Finally, Terra had put a neck corset on her, which prevented her from turning her head, let alone looking at the locks on her restraints. She had to turn her whole body to look where she wanted to. It was a difficult task with the weight of the restraints, but when they both heard a glass break in the house, Rilliana turned around anyway. Terra rolled her eyes in annoyance and pulled on the leash to drag Rilliana behind her into the house .

"I swear, Celine, you're next!" Terra cursed as she walked back into the living room and stopped in front of Celine. Rilliana stood next to Terra and they both looked at the witch lying in a pool of wine on the floor.

"She's just sleeping… right?" Rilliana asked worriedly, and Terra nodded.

"She has no injuries and is breathing. By the gods, when she wakes up, I'm going to have a serious talk with her. Please watch her for a moment while I look for a broom."

Terra disappeared, leaving Rilliana alone with Celine.

"Now or never," Rilliana muttered, nudging Celine with her foot.

"Mmm, not now…" Celine murmured and turned away.

"Celine, I need your help! If Trisha and I still mean anything to you, then get up and look at me!" hissed Rilliana, kicking her mistress in the butt.

"Rilliana, I…"

"I know you can't, but now is not the time to sleep off your drunkenness in a pool of wine! Get up and take off my restraints! I know how to find Trisha and save her from Jinara!"

Celine didn't move, and Rilliana gave up hope when Terra came running back into the hallway with a broom in her hand.

 

“How is Celine?” Rilliana asked Terra when Terra chained her back to the bed in the evening after she had used the toilet.

"I… I don't know. Jinara must have treated her really badly in the past. I hope everything will be all right once we know where Trisha is."

"Let's hope so," said Rilliana, burying her head in the pillows.

"Oh? Does that mean you've come to your senses?" Terra asked.

"Even if I did, you wouldn't believe me anyway, would you? I can only make the best of it and try to make my stay here as pleasant as possible while my friend…"

Rilliana fell silent and turned her head away from Terra again.

"Rilliana, I'm really sorry, but…"

"Save it. Just let me sleep."

Terra lowered her gaze in shame and left the room. She paused briefly at the door and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing she could say would excuse her behavior. She closed the door and went into the living room. Rilliana looked out the window and watched the sun slowly disappear behind Celine's forest until her eyes grew heavy and she fell into the realm of dreams.

 

A siren wailed throughout the facility, rousing Trisha from her sleep. She wanted to jump up and beat the first person who entered her cell to a pulp. But she realized that her new suit prevented her from doing so, and it took her a great deal of effort to get up. Fortunately, no one came into her cell, but this time she heard conversations, shouts, and occasional laughter. She cautiously went to her door and glanced outside. Dozens of women were running toward the place where Trisha had been beaten unconscious the night before. Trisha saw one of the women notice her and another one point her out. When they saw Trisha staring at them, they quickly turned away and began whispering behind their hands. She noticed that none of them were wearing red catsuits, but mostly green ones, sometimes yellow ones. Trisha smiled.

"My first day in prison and I'm already standing out from the crowd. At least the others don't seem to be scared," Trisha muttered, following the women. She turned the corner where she had met the nurses last night and bumped into a tall, muscular woman who was running back toward the cell block. Trisha was thrown to the ground while the woman, also dressed in red, glared at her angrily.

"Watch where you're going, Shifter, or else!" she hissed Trisha, however, seemed to ignore her and ran past her.

"All right, next time I'll look through the wall first," Trisha muttered and groaned as her suit resisted her again when she stood up. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her collar. The next moment, she was spun around and pressed against the wall. The woman glared at her, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"You've got a big mouth for someone in my cell block!"

"And you have terrible bad breath! Don't you get toothbrushes here?" replied Trisha, who knew she was at a slight disadvantage thanks to her suit, but wanted to find out what made her fellow inmates tick. Trisha kept a straight face and held the other woman's gaze.

"I don't have time for this shit!" she muttered, letting go of Trisha and continuing to walk toward the cell block.

"I didn't expect that," said Trisha, frowning as she watched her go. She turned to leave and noticed a few of the other women staring at her with their mouths open.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Trisha asked nervously, waving at them. She was met with a mixture of laughter and head shaking as she walked away.

"At least some people here understand a joke. Let's see what this devil woman has in store for me," Trisha muttered worriedly. She left the corridors behind her and entered the large square again. At least, that's what she thought. Instead of a large open space, insurmountable walls now loomed before her. Trisha could see gaps here and there, and some prisoners going inside.

"Maybe I should have listened yesterday after all," Trisha muttered, her eyebrows drawn together.

"Move it, Shifter!" Trisha heard a familiar voice say and was jostled as the other woman dressed in red rushed past her. Trisha immediately noticed that she was holding a leash and pulling something behind her. Trisha froze when she saw a woman in a green suit desperately struggling against her mistress. Her suit had been transformed into a petsuit, forcing her to crawl on her knees and elbows, unable to resist her mistress's tugging. Her hands were uselessly sealed inside the suit, and a green mask hid her hair and lower half of her face. She was undoubtedly gagged underneath, as a bulge could be seen where her mouth should have been. Tears welled up in her eyes, and the despair in them was clear to see. Time seemed to stand still for Trisha as she looked at the woman's face and remembered the night Rilliana had used her safeword. They both had the same fear in their eyes. Anger boiled up inside her, and from one moment to the next, she stood in her shifter form over the woman in red, the leash in her hand and the woman in the petsuit behind her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SHIFTER! THAT'S IT, YOU'RE NEXT!" she said, scrambling to her feet, only to be pushed back to the ground by Trisha the next moment.

"If you lay your hands on this woman again, I'll rip your throat out!" Trisha hissed, baring her sharp teeth. Her yellow cat eyes seemed to pierce her opponent. The woman turned pale and slowly got up to retreat. Trisha took a deep breath and ended her transformation. She couldn't have kept it up much longer anyway.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down to the helpless woman to remove her mask and gag. A human woman with gorgeous blonde hair appeared.

"Yes, I'm fine, but do you even have enough credits?"

“Credits? Money doesn’t matter right now. Tell me your name instead.”

The woman looked at her as if she doubted Trisha's sanity, but then said, "My name is Epolia. But I don't think you understand what you've done. Jonete bought me, and if you take me away from her, then… oh shit."

Epolia suddenly made herself very small and hid behind Trisha. A shiver ran down the shifter's neck as she sensed someone looming behind her.

“Stay behind me, I’ll take care of this,” Trisha whispered, turning around.

“Supervisor Rabea, it’s good to see you again,” she said, taking a step back when Rabea stood uncomfortably close to her face.

“5703. I thought my subordinates would have explained the procedures at our facility to you,” Rabea said, taking another step toward Trisha.

"Well, maybe not everything stuck," Trisha said, bumping into Epolia as she moved further back. Rabea rolled her eyes.

“5703, Petsuit,” she sighed. Immediately, the suit around Trisha transformed, forcing her, just like Epolia, to crawl across the floor. Annoyed, Trisha clicked her tongue and looked defiantly up into the guard’s eyes.

"Now listen to me carefully, 5703. This prison operates on a system where you prisoners can buy food or amenities for your cells, like that coward over there," Rabea said, nodding toward Epolia.

"You can earn credits by winning the warden's daily challenges, for example, or by earning them in other ways, like your little friend. 1680, right?" she asked, turning to Epolia.

"Y… yes, Mistress," Epolia said fearfully. Rabea continued.
"Because you took 1680 from… whatever her number was, you have to pay a fee."

"But I… don't have any credits yet, right?" Trisha asked hesitantly.

"Even less than none, now that you've bought 1680."

"But I …"

"Let me stop you right there. You did, and if you don't pay the necessary credits by tonight, you'll be available as a pet for the others starting tomorrow. Is that clear?"

Trisha nodded.

"Good, then have fun failing. 5703, release."

Trisha immediately regained control of her body as the suit released her. Rabea smiled maliciously at her and strode away. Trisha remained lying on her stomach, staring after her until Epolia pushed herself into her field of vision.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

“No need. Even if I had known beforehand, I would have done the same thing. You could help me out, though. How can I see how many credits I still need to get?”

"It's on your upper arm," Epolia murmured, sitting down awkwardly next to her. Sure enough, Trisha could make out a black 4900 preceded by a big minus sign.

“And how can I get 4900 credits the fastest?”

"Rabea already told you… there," said Epolia, pointing her elbow toward the walls. "But looks like you're out of luck today. Mazes are some of the nastiest things they throw at us."

"And what do I have to do in there?" Trisha asked.

"Get as far as you can."

Trisha didn't know if Epolia was trying to annoy her by giving such a minimalist answer, but she knew she had to get in there as quickly as possible.

“I assume pets aren’t allowed in the maze?”

"Very funny. I don't participate in the events anymore, which is why I'm stuck in here. Having to play doggy for a bad master every now and then is nothing compared to what I sometimes had to endure on the 'playground'."

"Then you wait so long … where?"

"But waiting is so boring, and we could have so much fun together," Epolia said seductively, resting her head on Trisha's leg.

"Sorry, I already have a blonde waiting for me at home," Trisha said, ruffling Epolia's hair. "How about you wait in my cell until I come back with the credits, and then you can answer a few more questions about this place?"

"Well, it's your money," said the pet girl, crawling happily toward the cells, humming. Trisha watched her for a moment, then stood up. Her transformation had helped her ignore the unruly suit for a moment, but now she could no longer rely on it. Without her dagger, it was too exhausting to maintain her form.

"I hope the suit doesn't ruin my chances. If only I had my dagger…" she muttered and strode purposefully toward the labyrinth. Trisha swallowed when she heard screams coming from inside and briefly wondered if she would still have a chance to escape if she became a pet girl.

"5703? Do you want to go in now or admire the architecture a little longer?" asked a guard at the entrance, yawning loudly.
"Sorry, I'm new here… Mmm… I was told I could win credits here? How do I do that?"

The guard looked at her boredly.

"There are traps and treasures to be found in there. The treasures can make your stay here more pleasant, or you can exchange them for credits later. Reach the end and win the grand prize. If you get caught in a trap, you'll be sent back to your cell and punished," she explained curtly, folding her arms to signal Trisha to finally go inside and leave her alone. Trisha glanced at her upper arm again to check her debt. She sighed and went inside.

"I'm playing right into your hands, aren't I, Jinara?" Trisha muttered. There were three paths she could follow, and none of them felt like the right one. Like the rest of the prison, the walls and floor were made of a white material and offered no clues as to where Trisha should go.

"Let's just start with the middle one," Trisha said, following the corridor until it turned right. She found herself at a dead end, with a chest at the end just waiting to be opened.

"Jinara, are you serious?" Trisha asked, looking up at the glass dome and almost expecting to see the demon's diabolical grin in one of the windows. "I haven't even taken ten steps in here and you're already putting a box in front of me? Forget it!"

She turned away to take another route when a fellow prisoner in a yellow catsuit came towards her and almost knocked her to the ground when she saw the chest.

"Get lost, shifter, that's my loot!" she hissed and knelt in front of the chest.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Trisha, but the woman ignored her and opened the lid. Pink, fleshy teeth dripping with saliva appeared. The woman screamed loudly and recoiled, but tentacles shot out of the mimic, wrapping tightly around her ankles and dragging her back.

"Shifter! Help me! Please!" she screamed, and Trisha didn't need to be told twice, jumping toward her to grab her hand.

"I've got you! Hang on!" Trisha encouraged her and pulled with all her might. But the mimic had other plans, and more tentacles emerged from it. They grabbed the woman by her hips and wrapped themselves around her neck. Others tried to grab Trisha, but the shifter managed to dodge them every time by a hair's breadth.
"I don't know how much longer I can hold you," Trisha cried as she saw more tentacles grab the woman and move up her arms, forcing Trisha to let go or be pulled into the box with her. The woman opened her mouth, but no words came out as the Mimic slowly cut off her air supply and she turned red.

"I'm sorry," Trisha said as the mimic reached for her wrists, and let go. The woman reached out to Trisha for help, but another tentacle wrapped around her arm and pulled it back with the rest of her body. The last thing Trisha saw was the woman's tear-streaked face as the lid closed over her. The shifter stumbled back until she hit the wall and slid down it. Trisha stared in horror at the chest, which was just waiting to pull in its next prisoner. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would burst out of her chest as long-forgotten memories came flooding back. Memories of Jinara that made her blood run cold. Now Trisha knew that Jinara was still the same monster she had always been and that it had been a mistake to enter the labyrinth without a plan.

"I have to get out of here as quickly as possible," Trisha muttered feverishly and ran back down the corridor she had come from, but there was no sign of the entrance. Shaking, she leaned against the wall. She swallowed as she realized that Jinara had not only lured her into her trap, but had also designed it specifically for her. Trisha couldn't plan anything in here; all that mattered in here was her ever-dwindling luck.

 

Disappointed, Jinara sank back into her soft, new armchair. It groaned softly through the gag as she leaned back. Jinara would have loved to see Trisha pulled into the Mimic, but that would probably have been too soon. Trisha hadn't seen everything yet and should remain in the maze until the end.

"Then I guess I'll have to play with you for a while," Jinara murmured, running her fingers over the face of her side table until she found its nose and pressed it shut. It immediately began to twitch until Jinara said in a calm but emotionless voice, "If you spill even a drop of my tea, you'll find yourself in a cell next to Trisha tonight."

Panic appeared in the eyes of her table, but the twitching turned into a slight tremor as the table tried to remain calm despite the lack of air, which became more difficult with every passing second.

"Finally, she's moving again!" Jinara said delightedly, releasing her nose. Instantly, her table greedily drew in the air as Jinara took her cup and took a sip.

"I would have loved to see her face, wouldn't you?" she asked, looking down maliciously at her chair. The fearful and exhausted faces of the other nurses looked up at her. Jinara had made herself comfortable on them after leather restraints forced them to hold their arms behind their backs in the reverse prayer position. Her legs, which were also restrained, served as a backrest for her mistress. The nurse had been placed in a metal frame, which held her in position and raised her to a comfortable sitting height. Jinara's fingers clawed around her chair's gagged mouth and shook it slightly.

"You do have a ravishing face, my dear," she said, almost whispering, "Remind me to hire someone new for you. I think I've found your true calling!"

Jinara cast a disparaging glance at her side table, which was still shaking.

"I'm still undecided about you," Jinara muttered, pinching the second nurse's nose again. The trembling grew stronger, despite the steel frame holding her body in place, and Jinara's tea sloshed menacingly to just below the rim of the cup.

 

Slowly, Trisha felt her strength returning after overcoming her shock and hesitantly continued through the maze. After a few steps, she found herself at another dead end, and once again there was a chest on the wall that beckoned her temptingly.

"They can't all be mimic chests, can they?" Trisha muttered, approaching it cautiously. She clenched her hand into a fist and struck the chest with full force, only to recoil hastily the next moment. It didn't move, but Trisha continued to eye it suspiciously.

"Maybe I was just unlucky with the first one," she said, walking back to the chest and opening it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn't a mimic after all, and found a large white pillow inside. A moment later, the chest and pillow had disappeared, and Trisha suspected she would find it later in her cell.

"I wonder how much a pillow is worth?" Trisha wondered as she walked down another corridor and soon found herself in a long hallway that sloped slightly. She could see another chest in the distance, but suspected that the hallway was littered with traps. She bit her lower lip and wondered whether she should take a different route when a wall opened up next to her and two women stumbled out. They looked almost identical, from their raven-black hair to their dark eyes. The only difference between them was a beauty mark on their cheeks. One had it on her left cheek and the other on her right. Trisha supported both women, who were dressed in yellow, so they wouldn't fall to the ground.

"Hey, thanks a lot, Shifter!" said one of them, scrambling to her feet.

"You're welcome," said Trisha, grinning at them, "you two seemed to be in a real hurry."

The twins began to grin broadly.

"Well, we didn't really feel like being caught by a spider, artificial or not. My name is Pina and this is my sister Rebecca. What's your name?" she asked curiously, eyeing Trisha from head to toe.

"My name is Trisha. Nice to meet you. Do you think we could walk together for a bit? It should be safer in a group, right?" Trisha asked nervously.

"A thousand times better than alone," laughed Rebecca and walked ahead down the long corridor, while Pina smiled at Trisha and motioned for her to come along.

“How come you two are walking along here so confidently? After seeing a prisoner get caught by a mimic, I hardly dared to take another step.”

"Mmmm, I'd say we've been through a lot here and most of the traps are pretty predictable. Especially here in this hallway. It's probably full of them, but as long as we don't step on any pressure plates , we'll be fine. And even if we do, we usually have enough time to dodge them," Pina explained, folding her arms behind her back and looking slightly ahead. Trisha tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. That wasn't like Jinara at all, and the Mimic seemed to have suddenly reached for the woman.

"Hey, cheer up, even if you get caught, the punishment for failure isn't usually that bad," said Pina.

“I don’t know. I have a feeling Jinara has something mean in store for me.”

“Jinara? Who is that…?” asked Rebecca, but she stopped when her foot sank a little into the floor.

"Trap!" she shouted, recoiling as the entire corridor shook. The twins scanned their surroundings and tensed their bodies, ready for anything, but nothing happened.

"Maybe it's a dud?" asked Rebecca hopelessly. Trisha furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't believe that Jinara's traps could have a flaw. Trisha looked over her shoulder and swallowed. A huge black ball rolled toward them and picked up speed.

"Run!" she shouted and sprinted away. The twins didn't need to be told twice and ran after her.

If it weren't for this damn suit, none of this would be a problem! she thought, glancing back. Panicked, she widened her eyes when she saw the ball getting closer and closer, pushing her body to its limits.

"Shit!" Trisha heard Pina shout and saw her fall to the ground as she tripped over her own feet. Trisha immediately stopped and turned around, while Rebecca kept running.

"What are you doing! Run!" Pina shouted as Trisha helped her up.

"Together we have a better chance!" replied Trisha. She was about to pull Pina behind her when she noticed a crack in the wall that she had almost overlooked.

"In here!" Trisha barked, pushing Pina and herself into the gap. A moment later, the ball rolled thunderously past them.

"Lucky," Trisha muttered and stepped back into the hallway. She watched the ball roll inexorably until it reached the chest and smashed into the wall behind it. Black slime splattered back into the hallway, making the chest inaccessible.

"I hope your sister found a gap in the walls too," Trisha said to Pina as she stood next to her and examined the trail of slime on the walls and floor.

"I hope not," said Pina, sticking out her tongue.

"What? What do you mean?" Trisha asked, horrified.

"My sister and I participate in these events every day and bet on which one of us will get the furthest. Looks like I finally won again after a week."

Trisha shook her head in disbelief.

"Come on, we should keep going," she said, pulling Pina behind her. As they approached the chest, they could see Rebecca on the opposite wall. She was buried under masses of slime and desperately trying to free herself from the sticky substance.

"Hey, sis. Glad you gave me another win. I'm going to set off with our new friend and conquer the maze. See you later in the cell!" said Pina, waving goodbye to Rebecca. Trisha looked incredulously at the twins, one smiling calmly, the other with her mouth open in a silent, angry scream.

"Come on, Trisha, let's continue," said Pina, opening a door on the side.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Trisha asked.

"Trust me, it's pointless. Once you're trapped, there's no escape. Rebecca and I spent our first few days here constantly trying to save each other. It was always the same result. Don't get me wrong, we help each other where we can, but with something like this," she said, pointing to her sister, "there's nothing we can do except stay stuck ourselves."

Trisha looked doubtfully at Rebecca, who seemed to have calmed down. Trisha didn't know if she was imagining it, but she thought she saw Rebecca shrug her shoulders as if to say, "That's just how it is here."

"Well, then I hope we don't end up in such a predicament," Trisha muttered and stepped through the door offered to her. Instead of another hallway surrounded by high walls, Trisha and Pina found themselves in a dark corridor. Thanks to her cat eyes, Trisha had no trouble seeing in the dark. Pina, however, couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face and had to trust the shifter to guide her.

"If I had known that this door led to a dark room, I would never have come in here," she mused, feeling her way blindly along the wall.

"Don't worry. Carefully step over here," Trisha murmured thoughtfully, helping Pina over a tripwire stretched across the floor.

"What are you thinking about?" Pina asked.
"I'm trying to come up with a plan to get us out of here safely," Trisha replied, pulling Pina along behind her.
"Out of the maze? That could be difficult. The walls are shifting, falling, separating us from other prisoners. How are you going to come up with a plan with so many factors?"

"I'm talking about the prison itself. I gave up trying to figure out the maze after the first trap. Jinara knows exactly how to get to me, so why do her any favors and make useless plans?"

"Jinara? You just said that name. Who is that?" asked Pina, bumping hard into Trisha's shoulder as she turned toward her in disbelief.

"Jinara? The director?" Trisha asked incredulously.
"Ouch… no, I don't know," said Pina, rubbing her nose. "We were thrown in here and have always been toys for the guards or the director, it seems. None of us have seen her yet, if you're telling the truth. Who is this Jinara?"

"She's an old friend of my sister's and was my… babysitter. She made my life hell with 'experiments,' as she called them. I called it torture. I have her to thank for the hole in my ear. At least now I have a cool piercing. But… there were also the electric shocks, breath control, and sleep deprivation. By the gods… I never wanted to think about it again. Speaking of which," Trisha said, yawning loudly as she realized she hadn't slept properly in over a day.

"Definitely not the most pleasant reunion."

"No, not by a long shot," Trisha muttered.

"How did you even get in here?" asked Pina.

"Jinara apparently put a spell on my sister's clothes and affected a protective spell. As a result, I wasn't taken to safety, but teleported to her prison," Trisha replied.

"So you're innocent here too, like so many of us."

"Well, I wouldn't say innocent, but yes, I haven't been convicted," Trisha said with a laugh, "and how did you end up here?"

Pina looked away, embarrassed, as if she felt uncomfortable talking about it.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Trisha reassured her.

"No, no. It's okay, you told me too. My sister and I worked in a brothel in Leon's Keep. After the owner changed, however, we refused to work for him and wanted to find something else. But he thought we now belonged to him too. When we continued to refuse, he had us brought here," she said and sighed.

"This man, what was his name?"

"He introduced himself to us as Faluden."

Trisha spat when she heard his name.

"You know him?" asked Pina.

"Unfortunately… He framed a friend of mine for a crime so he could take over her brothel and… well… take over her brothel," Trisha replied.

"You're talking about Terra, right?"

Trisha grunted in agreement and turned a corner. She breathed a sigh of relief when a door appeared in front of her and opened it.

"So that's what happened," Pina concluded, squinting to adjust to the light. "Your disappearance made Faluden incredibly angry."

"Glad to hear our escape upset him so much," Trisha laughed.

"It was you?"

"With the help of my girlfriend Rilliana," said Trisha, frowning as they stood in another long corridor. To their left, a turn led to another part of the maze.

"The director seems to be running out of ideas," Pina said, smiling at Trisha.

"Maybe…" Trisha murmured, "I think we'd better go left."

They were about to leave the corridor behind them when they heard two voices, and Trisha's expression darkened when she recognized one of them.

"Did you see her face when the plant grabbed her? Priceless! Even if there were no prizes, I'd go in here just for that and…" said the fellow prisoner in red, who had already caught Trisha's attention, and stopped dead in front of them. She grimaced as if a foul odor had reached her nose.

"I didn't think you'd dare come in here without your transformation, Shifter," she said. Trisha flashed her teeth and smiled at her.

"I wanted to give the rest of you a fair chance to win."

"Hey, hey, hey, we don't have to go for each other's throats, do we?" asked Pina, standing between them.

"She's right, Jonete, we should walk together for a bit," said the woman in yellow next to Jonete, making herself very small when she received a punishing look from her.

"If you don't slow us down," Jonete replied, walking past Pina and Trisha.

“Looks like we’ll be walking down the hallway after all,” said Pina, placing a hand on Trisha’s shoulder. Trisha said nothing, and the three remaining women followed Jonete.

"And Shifter? Have you had a little fun with Epolia yet?" Jonete asked casually as the four women walked down the hallway. Trisha wondered what she meant by that question, but came to the conclusion that she just wanted to strike up a conversation to build trust in this hostile environment.

"Not yet, to be honest. Someone is waiting for me at home, and I don't want to spoil the anticipation," she replied.

"You think you'll get out of here? You'd be the first."

"It's only a matter of time," Trisha muttered barely audibly and stopped when Pina reached out and pointed to the walls.

"Are those bodies?" she asked in horror. The four women looked more closely at the walls and indeed, they could see women kicking against them. The traps reminded Trisha of Celine's vacuum beds, which she and Rilliana had been allowed to try out.

"We're probably not the first ones to get through here. Let's keep going before we end up the same way," Jonete said, pulling her friend behind her. Trisha and Pina exchanged glances but followed her anyway.

"So you don't think I'll make it out of here?" Trisha asked, picking up the conversation again. Jonete glanced back arrogantly and seemed to study Trisha's figure.

"Not even if you had my muscles and were wearing a green suit," she replied and started laughing. Trisha stopped her laughing when she saw a wall of slime shooting toward Jonete and her friend out of the corner of her eye. Without hesitation, she threw herself on top of them and pulled them to the ground. The trap hissed past Trisha's tail and slammed into the wall.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, SHIFTER…," Jonete yelled at Trisha, about to teach her some manners when she saw that the trap had just missed them and was now stuck empty to the wall.

“You’re welcome,” Trisha said curtly, brushing the dust off her suit and walking past her without giving her another glance. Pina gave the two a wide berth and caught up with Trisha.

“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have done that for you,” she whispered to the shifter, glancing back.

“It’s okay. Eventually, the time will come when I need her and she’ll remember. She’s right, without my transformation and in this red suit, I need help,” Trisha replied. “Could you maybe talk to her friend? I’d like to talk to Jonete.”

Pina looked at her a little disappointed, but fell back and did as she was told. Jonete seemed to quickly lose interest in the ensuing conversation and took a few quick steps until she caught up with Trisha.

"If you're expecting thanks for saving me, you can forget it," she said grumpily.

"I'm not. Like I said, you're welcome. You would have done the same for me."

"Yeah… exactly."

Trisha smiled inwardly when she heard the lie.

"How did you end up here?" Trisha asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"I pissed off the wrong people, and when they realized that normal prisons couldn't hold me for long, they decided to put me in this disposal park. At least it's cleaner than the last place I was, I can assure you," Jonete replied, waving her hand as if to chase away the bad memories.

"I like it better here than in the stone fortresses I was in before, but I'd appreciate it if you'd give me back my toy," Jonete said, staring down at the shifter. Trisha held her gaze and replied coldly, "There are a few rules you have to follow when 'playing' with someone in Epolia's situation. Until I see that you can follow them, she stays with me.”

Jonete laughed loudly.

"Rules? Please. It won't be long before I buy you both! Then you'll be in for a nasty surprise," she said, pointing to her upper arm. Trisha swallowed when she saw the many numbers on it, but quickly recovered and said, "Not if I win here."

"I doubt it," Jonete replied maliciously and pushed Trisha with full force toward the wall. At that moment, a trap activated and Trisha escaped it by a hair's breadth as she threw herself to the ground and the wall of slime shot over her. Jonete ran ahead laughing and disappeared into a barely noticeable gap, which closed behind her instantly. A hand appeared in Trisha's field of vision as Pina tried to help her up.

"Was that part of your plan too?" she asked with a grin.

"Not really," Trisha replied, getting up with Pina's help, "but at least now I know what's in store for me if I fail."

Jonete's friend stood next to them in horror and didn't make a sound until Trisha spoke to her.

"And what about you? Shouldn't you have run away with Jonete? Or are you waiting for the right opportunity to stab me in the back too?"

"Frankly, I'm glad Jonete is finally gone. She pushed our last escort into a trap," she replied, blushing. Trisha turned around, snorting, and motioned for her to follow.

"You look stressed," Pina whispered.

"I've only been here a day and I've made enemies of the guards and prisoners, I don't know if I'll ever see my girlfriend again, and I'm at the mercy of my sister's vengeful ex. Plus, I'm so damn tired I could fall asleep on the run! So yes, I'm stressed. Let's just keep going, okay?" Trisha muttered indignantly.

With every step Trisha took deeper into the labyrinth, she hated Jinara's prison more and more. Around every bend and in every corridor, a trap or monster waited to attack her. While Pina saved Trisha from every trap or explained what was going on, the newest member of their team, Vasha, was more of a hindrance. Trisha suspected that Jonete had given her the task of delaying them for as long as possible.

"Please keep an eye on Vasha," Trisha whispered to Pina.

"You don't have to worry about her. I talked to her and she's really nice."

Trisha refrained from explaining to her that humans had the ability to lie. They stopped when they came to a pit filled with a black, bubbling liquid. The only way to the other side was a narrow beam that left little room for missteps.

“This is new,” Pina murmured as she examined the black mass four steps below them. The substance seemed to follow their movements and tried to crawl up the smooth surface.

"Maybe we should find another…" Vasha began, but Trisha interrupted her: "After you!" she ordered, pushing Vasha onto the beam, closely followed by Trisha and Pina, who shook her head at the shifter's behavior. When they reached the middle of the beam, Trisha cleared her throat and said, "I'm sorry, Vasha, but I can't afford to take any detours. No matter how I look at it, I can't end up as someone else's pet if I want to get out of here. To do that, I have to win this grand prize."

"Mmh. I see… why didn't you say so?" said Vasha, stopping unexpectedly, so that Trisha almost ran into her.

"Damn it, Vasha, watch out! If we fall down here…" Trisha said, interrupting herself when she saw Vasha's arm flying toward her out of the corner of her eye. With no room to dodge, the attack hit Trisha square in the chest and she stumbled backward into Pina. Pina lost her balance, fell off the beam, and clung to it at the last moment.

"Jonete is the one who will win the prize, and I will earn my share, right here, right now!" Vasha shouted as Trisha tried to regain her balance while avoiding stepping on Pina's hands. Trisha glanced down and saw Pina desperately trying to pull herself up as the black mass beneath her reared up to grab her ankles.

"You don't seriously believe Jonete will share the prize with you, do you?" Trisha retorted, raising her fists. She would have loved to extend her claws, but the thick latex prevented her from doing so.

“I’ll just have to knock you down and find out for myself,” Vasha said, closing the distance between them with two long strides. Trisha cursed her cumbersome suit again, which forced her to keep her hands down, and resisted his pull as Vasha swung at her, barely managing to block the blow. Another blow narrowly missed her as she ducked under it. Trisha took advantage of the gap in Vasha's defense and pushed her backward. Both of them swayed menacingly.

"You know, I just had a thought, Trisha," Vasha said, putting on a malicious grin.

"That you regret putting Pina and me in this situation?" Trisha asked hopefully.

"Actually, all I have to do is knock you down here. I don't even have to stay up there."

Trisha froze. Vasha ran toward her and Trisha tripped over Pina's hands, who let go, cursing. Trisha fell backward onto her back and kicked Vasha's knee with full force. The attacker buckled to the side and landed face-first next to Pina in the pit, screaming. Trisha immediately scrambled to her feet to help Pina out, but it was too late. The black substance had already clung to her and was pulling her deeper and deeper into it.
"Pina, I'm sorry!" Trisha cried desperately as Pina's hands were pulled down and disappeared into the mass.

"Oh, don't worry, Trisha, see you tomorrow," said Pina with a smile and winked at Trisha just before the black slime crept up her neck and completely covered her face. While Pina took her departure calmly, Vasha fought against the substance with all her might. Again and again, she almost pulled her arms out, only to be pulled in even deeper the next moment. Trisha heard the muffled screams through the substance and shook her head in disgust. Was this what Jinara wanted? To sow anger and despair among the prisoners? Trisha gritted her teeth. Jinara's idea of fun had nothing to do with what Celine had taught her. More than that. It was a perversion of what Trisha loved and cherished. Trisha looked up at the glass dome. She sensed that Jinara was watching her at that very moment, devilishly pleased at Trisha's renewed loss. She raised her arm and pointed her finger at the dome.

"I'll make sure you go down, Jinara!" she shouted, "SOON!" she added emphatically. She turned to leave and paused when black words formed on one of the white walls in front of her.

"Congratulations, Trisha, you've come a long way, but unfortunately I'm tired of you for today. Enjoy your punishment, it's going to be a long day for you," Trisha read aloud and frowned.

"What does that mean, I'm not out yet!" said Trisha. She heard something hissing and in the next moment felt a dull pain that knocked the air out of her lungs. She heard another hiss and shortly afterwards felt the dull pain again, this time in her shoulder. Trisha's eyes widened when she finally saw what had been bothering her during the night. A tiny black ball fell from her shoulder into the pit. She looked up at the dome and the walls above her and spotted long, thin tubes pointing at her. The hissing sound rang out for the third time and she lost her balance when another ball hit her leg.

"Still the same sore loser," Trisha hissed through clenched teeth as she fell into the pit and was greeted by the black mass already waiting eagerly for her. She closed her eyes.
"At least now I can get some sleep."