"This place is huge." Ewa lets out a whistle that resounds across the space. "That insufferable clown must be filthy rich."
I am inclined to agree with her. The room is adorned with intricate frescoes on the walls, depicting images of different animals—all of which are predators, as they are either in the process of hunting their prey or devouring them. The paintings in themselves are artfully done but it is the scenes they depict that disturb me.
The ceiling is dotted with strings of Arrays which produce small dazzling lights to provide sufficient lighting. The pool lies at the very centre, filled with warm steaming water, and large enough for over a hundred people without any problem.
The sheer opulence of this bath… It is staggering.
Ewa tosses her towel on the floor before leaping into the pool, splashing me in the process. She resurfaces seconds later, giggling like a little girl when she sees my frown.
"What are you waiting for?"
I sigh as I approach the pool, neatly fold my towel, then slowly step down the pool.
Instantly I feel my body relax. It is like an embrace of pure comfort, wrapping me like a blanket of liquid tranquillity. A gentle warmth spread across my body, easing away the tension in my muscles and joints that I had not even known was there—And in that moment I forget about my worries, letting my body breath for the first time in forever.
"Haa... I live again."
"…Indeed." I sigh.
We stay silent for a long time, the only sounds around us being the gentle trickle of water. We simply bask in the calm and relaxed moment.
"You know," she says after a moment, "I never would have imagined you to be the type to wear a tattoo. Where did you get it?"
I glance at the strings of black characters inscribed in a semi-circle against the brown skin of my upper arm. "I did it myself. The tattoo is not for aesthetics though; it is an Anchor."
Ewa raises an eyebrow as her lips stretched into a half-smile. "And what is an Anchor?"
I consider her question for a second. "To explain simply… A Pocket dimension cannot just be made into existence. In order to sustain it, and prevent it from collapsing unto itself, it needs to be anchored to something in the material world," I move my arm for her to see the whole Anchor, "this is one of the anchoring methods."
"I see… but is it not better to do it on an object rather than a living thing, what if the Pocket dimension 'collapses' on you?"
"A Pocket dimension can be maintained fairly easily, as long as it is supplied with a constant amount of Spiritual essence there is nothing to worry about, really the only ways it could collapse would be if it had not been correctly made in the first place, or if it had been damaged deliberately."
That is why it is not advised for beginners in Dimensionalism to put an Anchor on their bodies, depending on its size, the aftermaths of a collapsed Pocket dimension on the body can be… stomach-churning to witness, to say the least—Teacher had not allowed me to anchor mine until I had a near-perfect mastery of Dimensionalism and pocket dimension creation.
I had turned twenty-six by then.
"In addition," I give her a half-smile of my own, "it is a lot more convenient to have than to always carry an object around, there are less chances that it gets stolen from me… or that I simply lose it."
"Aaah. That is how you are able to seemingly manifest and dismiss your staff out of thin air…"
There is a long cozy silence, as Ewa and I just enjoy the relaxing and soothing bath.
Then Ewa turns to me, but she is interrupted when a small trilling sound erupts in the room. When we both search in the direction it came from, I lurch from my where I was sitting to Ewa's side.
It is another one of those heinous monkeys. This one is smaller, though, and it lacks that devious, malevolent look its kin had.
It was not agitated by my sudden movements, it just looks at us with its big, black eyes. Then it gently puts down the small basket it was carrying on its heads and dashes out a second later.
Ewa and I exchange glances, then back at the basket at the rim of the pool.
"I, I am starting to really dislike these creatures. How are they able to sneak up on me so easily?"
"Dalisso surely is responsible for that." I say after some hesitation.
She approaches the basket, inside is an assortment of bath salts, soaps, oils, and other products of the sort.
"Hmm… That idiot sure is considerate," she says, then her expression hardens, "does he really think he will be forgiven with this?"
"You are still upset about your alcohol?"
"How can I not be?! He not only stole from me, but he didn't even take the time to enjoy it. Wine from Akwa is a most refined delicacy, it is meant to be sipped slowly, leisurely, to appreciate all of its flavours. He guzzled three bottles down, and all he had to say about it was that it was tasty!? Tasty! Can you believe it?!"
"Okay… I-I see… Please calm down."
She leans back, splashing some water on her face to calm down.
"Besides that," she eyes me carefully. "What is going on between you and that Dalisso fellow, why do you fear him so much?"
My breath catches and her eyes narrow at my reaction.
"Something did happen." She observes.
"I…" The words die in my throat, for no apparent reason, I shift my gaze from hers.
Then I shake my head.
Why am I hesitating?
But before speaking, I erect a Hush ward around us, it is a possibility that Dalisso might be eavesdropping on us, so I layer it a few more times.
During the whole process Ewa remains quiet. She leans on the edge of the pool as watches me with some interest.
When it is done. I take a deep nervous breath and tell her about Dalisso having found out that I am a Nchāren, and off his intention to keep here with him.
"Is that so… even when you told him you don't want to he kept insisting?" She considers my words in silence. "As I thought, he really is a maniac. Bah. Don't worry about him."
I stare wide eyes, and a bit of disbelief.
"He is an old Mythical beast; how can I not worry?"
She smirks.
"He is an old lone Mythical beast. Even if he is as powerful as you say he is, it does not change the fact that we outnumber him, and none of us are weak too. I am sure we can deal with him one way or another… Once we find the opportunity to inform the others` about the situation."
"Okay." I say after a moment.
I am not exactly certain how this will work out, but Ewa's laid-back confidence and knowing that I am not alone in this is reassuring, nonetheless.
I turn back to her, wanting to thank her once more but falter when I find her submerged in the water up to her chin. Normally such a posture would look very silly, if only her eyes were not fixated on me with an expression I cannot describe.
"W-What are you doing?"
"You know," she says creeping closer, "you are so lucky. Nature has blessed you with such a nice, soft, curvy body." She creeps more. "Must be nice… must be really, really nice."
Her eyes travel across my naked body as she says that, lingering on my chest which I immediately cover in reflex.
"Ewa, stop it. That is not funny at all."
She rises a bit, raising her arms as well. The growing smile on her face is not as friendly as she tries to make it appear, no, it is a devious and conniving smile.
"Vyvy, my friend, won't you let me feel your body a bit? I'm just curious, why do some women have large chests while others don't? It needs to be researched on, hmm?"
I carefully step back as she approaches me, aiming for the stairs out of the pool.
"T-Then feel your own body. Your chest is plenty large too."
"Not as big as yours."
It is the only warning I get before she jumps up on me.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Vyvy?"
"Leave me alone."
"Awww…" She tries to touch me, but I step away. "Don't be mad, I was just playing around, it was for fun."
I throw her a very unamused glare. She raises her hands as if in surrender.
"Okay. I won't do it again, promise."
I cast her another doubtful glance, then say after a moment, "I am never bathing with you. Ever."
"Oh, come one."
Her voice echo across the corridors.
We left the bathhouse shortly after Ewa's unexpected attack on my person, well, to be more exact I stomped out as she followed after me, apologizing over and over again.
I would have left without addressing her a word for the rest of the day, if not for the fact that our cloths had disappeared. We had left our clothes in two baskets at the changing rooms, but when I retrieved mine, it was to find them replaced by another set of clothes.
A plain white shirt and trouser, from how sleek and cool they felt, and the luxuriousness of the material, they are undoubtably made out of silk. Dalisso must have taken our old clothes and put these ones in their place, the issue, though, was that the garments were not made with our respective measurement in mind, both are way too big for the both of us.
Ewa was positively furious—she still is—that he had taken our clothes without asking for permission but with no other option, we had to wear them. And adjust them to fit our bodies.
Now, as I look at the walls surrounding us I crease my brow, having come to a conclusion.
"We are lost."
All we had wanted was to go back to the room we had all been previously at—we assumed that it would be where everyone will be once they were done with the bath—but on way back the hallway was longer than it had been in the beginning, and there was no sign of the junction we had taken prior, nor of the men's area which supposedly was a few metres farther than ours.
Ewa and I have been walking for couple of minutes now.
"He must have placed an Array which turns this place into a maze, something similar to what he did to the forest."
A mix of Displacement and Dimensional sorcery, perhaps?
"When I get my hands on him—I will… Ugh." Ewa snarls through clenched teeth.
"Ah. There you are."
A voice singsongs. We turn to be met by Dalisso, the Anansi is has still not changed from his barely dressed attire and is currently smiling at us with his hands in his waist.
"You ladies don't know how to stay put, do you?"
"We… are looking for the others." I say after some hesitation.
He frowns, then smiles once more.
"Why would you want to be with those boring human males when you can be with a fun-to-be-with me?"
"Just tell us where they are." Ewa snarls.
"Okay, okay… No need to be so aggressive—Turn to your left down the hallway—But why don't you spend some time with me, before that?"
"You have got some nerves," Ewa draws near to him, to which he takes corresponding steps back, "forcing us to wear these hideous things. Give our cloths back, you pervert."
"I thought you would like the gesture," he says in alarm, "Don't human women like luxurious clothes?"
"—Not when they are that ugly."
For some reason, Dalisso bolts away, closely followed by Ewa.
A second later I find myself alone in the hallways, looking in the direction they disappeared to lost expression.
I… I do not know what to make of Dalisso.
He is a Mythical beast, proficient in sorcery and capable of bending space to his whims. Why is he acting all goofy and scared, especially around Ewa?
"Why am I even trying to understand?"
Sighing very audibly, I turn around and walk in the direction he had indicated.