“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows my sorrow.” Rex sang in a low voice. He hung his hands out of the iron bars that caged him. His head pressed against the cold metal. There was nothing to do in the old cell that he now resided in. He’d already counted all the bars and bricks. All that he could do was sit in his corner of the room and sing himself to sleep.

“Will you cut that out?!” Robyn shouted at her partner. She was at the other end of the bars and was visibly agitated. She’d heard the same song on loop for almost an hour. She too was bored out of her mind, but that didn’t force her to irritate the others to entertain herself. Robyn would’ve loved to throw something at her singing companion. That was probably the only way to shut him up.

“Oh, I’m sorry miss ‘get us all locked in jail’. Would you prefer if I sang a different tune while we wait?” Rex replied. Sure, he may have been annoying at that moment, but he wasn’t interested in hearing the opinion of the woman that got the entire team locked away. Rex flailed his arms as if to say ‘look around you’. The cell was cold and dirty. A corner was already determined to be the toilet based on the actions of this room’s previous tenant.

“You can’t keep blaming me for this!” Robyn yelled back at her new roommate. Out of the three possible people, why did she have to share a room with this idiot? He was quick to place blame and made the situation worse for both of them. Robyn would have almost preferred anyone else to share a room with. Someone that didn't take her heroic action and twist it into something with malicious intent. Unfortunately for her, fate was not kind.

“You’re the one that attracted all those freaking animals. That skill of yours took some baron’s pets as collateral, and now we’re all paying the price!” Rex said, reiterating why they were sleeping in a cell. He continually brought up that same evidence the guards did. Robyn activated her evolved animal attraction skill too close to the city. They’d already been warned about it before, so there was no mercy left to give after the most recent incident.

“If I didn’t do anything, Pride would have destroyed the city to find Rose,” Robyn said to defend herself. Pride only took her hostage to find Rose. To stop anything from happening, Robyn activated her skill to delay the sin until help arrived. She never even realized it was her skill that inevitably caused Pride’s downfall. Someone else had to point out that each small creature she brought made him stronger, eventually leading to the overflow error.

“Then this would’ve been her problem! Trust me, they wouldn’t have arrested the woman that saved the city twice. Right, guys?” Rex said before staring ahead at the opposite cell. He knew the other two would agree with him. After all, Robyn was the only one to blame for the mess they were in.

Xander and Nicholas sat in their own cell, across from the one that housed Robyn and Rex. The two were in a much calmer mood. They passed the time by bouncing a blue slime back and forth. Each toss had to bounce off of the floor, and the receiver had to catch his target without rising from his seated position. Smiles were plastered on both their faces as they continued their little game.

“My my, Cuatro. It seems like the girl that attracted every local farm animal and the boy that punched the guard arresting us want to have a chat.” Nicholas said with an overly sarcastic and pompous voice. He, of course, was talking to the slime he summoned. It didn’t take long for him to abuse the system and tell everyone the truth about his constant lying. As long as he spoke to his familiar, Nicholas could say whatever he wanted, truth and all.

“Indeed they do, o’ masterful liar. We were just going to be put under house arrest, but someone made it so that we get to spend a week in a dungeon.” Xander said with a similar voice and tossed back the slime in his hands. He was understanding about his partner’s situation. He too had a negative skill that couldn’t be suppressed. Thanks to the slime, the two could share a real conversation once again. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed willing to forgive Robyn or Rex.

“NOTICE. [FAMILIAR: SLIME] HAS ACQUIRED THE SKILL [BLUDGEONING DAMAGE RESISTANCE II]”

“Oh dear, Cuatro. It seems we’ll need to invent a new game to play so that you can keep growing.” Nicholas said to his joyful slime. Cuatro bounced with glee at the prospect of a new game. The slime was practically like a child, though mascot would probably be a better word to describe it. The duo had created a number of games to pass the time, and Cuatro gained skills from each one. It received [Stealth II] and [Perception II] from the game ‘hide and seek’. [Change Form: Color] and [Change Form: Shape] came from ‘charades’. Lastly, [Acid Spit] and [Water Spit] came from the game ‘oh gods, something in the toilet corner moved’.

“Thank goodness we have companions who were so willing to provide us with the environment to grow Cuatro’s strength. Alone. Without any of us able to keep up with it, and at the cost of our equipment.” Xander said with an obviously fake smile. All of the team’s gear was taken into custody. The slime continued to grow while everyone else lagged behind. One could argue that Cuatro was now the team’s strongest member.

“Cuatro! Tell them I’m sorry.” Rex said, succumbing to the constant talk that revolved around the slime. Cuatro felt a bit overwhelmed by having its name called out so many times. Thankfully, it knew to only listen to its master.

The banter continued for a brief moment before falling to a hush. Three guards walked down the corridor. Cuatro used its stealth skill and hid behind Nicholas. Everyone pressed against the bars to see what was going on. Guardsman Oliver, along with another guard of the same rank, accompanied what appeared to be the person in charge. They spoke with unquestionable authority.

“By order of the known hero and vanquisher of Envy, Paladin Rose, the renowned Huntsman Damian, and Countess Marisol Belicia Serena Del Monte, you are all free to go until the trial is commenced in one week.”