Christian was immediately marveled by the elegant sight before him. He saw a large pool of water with statues of nymphs blowing water from their mouths. Beautiful art depicting heroic battles was engraved on the mosaic of the walls, and the scent of oil spread through the room.
"Isn't this a little too lavish?" Christian commented. As he approached the water, a bubble floated before him. "Is this…for my clothes?" The bubble seemed to understand his question and trembled slightly. Christian did not hesitate to remove his clothes and put them inside the bubble, leaving only his wand and holding bag. He placed the copper bracelets inside the bag and then set it aside.
"Is that a strigil?" A group of items lay before the pool, and Christian recognized one of them from the materials he had read before arriving at this period. He recognized the Egyptian cleansing paste, olive oil, and herbal rinse.
"Have my prayers been answered?" Christian uttered after identifying the rinse. He knew this was what the people of this period used to wash their hair. He smelled it: "Lavender, huh? It smells quite nice."
Christian pointed his wand at his hair and chanted a Swahili incantation: "Sukumana Kuviringisha!" His hair un-twisted on its own, turning into an afro. Christian jumped into the water, washing the sweat and dirt. He put the herbal rinse in his hair before washing it off.
"Hmm? Why do I feel my hair is different? Is this rinse some kind of potion?" As soon as he washed away the rinse, he felt a cool sensation throughout his hair that was quite enjoyable. "I quite like this feeling. Maybe I should get the recipe from the library."
Christian's hair was quite dirty after experiencing so much. Although he had daily showers by conjuring water, he had no shampoo or similar products. His attempt at conjuring some failed, and the team had to resort to makeshift soaps. So, the pool water became dirty as he washed, but to his surprise, this lavish bath had its own self-cleaning system, and clear water soon appeared around him.
The next step of his bath was scrubbing himself, but as he looked at the metal strigil, he hesitated. Maybe he should try conjuring some bathing materials."As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do." He put the paste all over his body before scraping it with the strigil.
"What a deep clean," Christian muttered. He still vividly remembered being five years old and switching from loofahs to net sponges from Ghana, but even that deep cleanse could not compare to the effect of this paste and strigil. The pain was worth it.
As Christian left the pool, three bubbles flew over him: one contained a linen towel, the second had a lightweight tunic, and the last held his clothes. As he dried his body with the soft towel, he looked at the second bubble. "Is this for sleeping? It looks loose and comfortable."
Christian put on the clothes; as he expected, they were perfectly suited for sleeping. Finally, he took his clothes and immediately smelled them: "They are indeed washed." He put them away before drying his hair and re-twisting them with the same spell. He then conjured some silk before transforming it into a bonnet for his hair.
"The only thing missing is some lotion," Christian muttered as he looked at his skin. He probably will become ashy soon enough. Luckily for him, the bathhouse seemed to understand what he said when a bottle with a clear liquid manifested next to him.
"Is this place similar to the Room of Requirement?" Christian muttered as he picked up the lotion and smelled it. He couldn't recognize what it was, but it was soothing. Christian did not hesitate to apply it to his body; his bathing ritual finally ended, and he felt refreshed.
The sleeping rooms were on the second floor, and there were precisely three. Such a small detail furthered Christian's theory that this resting area might be a magical construct with a conscience similar to Hogwarts' castle. After all, there should have been four rooms if you had included Menes. Christian knew his room as the door fluctuated with a red aura.
The inside was both luxurious and simple. At the center was a large, raised wooden bed with four ropes attached from the four corners to the ceiling—a mattress stuffed with an unknown material, probably feathers or straw, linen sheets, and pillows. An angular harp stood at the corner, playing soothing music on its own.
Christian observed the room with a frown: 'All this luxury makes me suspicious that something will happen in the middle of the night. I'd better sleep with my wand under the pillow.' He lay on the bed, and as expected, the pillow and bed were extremely comfortable.
As Christian lay down, the peaceful atmosphere did not make him sleepy but contemplative. For the first time since he activated Odin's Eyes, he was not in panic mode, allowing him to review his actions objectively. 'I've experienced much in the past few months,' Christian contemplated. He reflected on every event and decision, trying to see if he missed something or whether he could learn from it, and he did find something.
Christian realized he had lost the ambidexterity he had acquired after years of playing the piano. He's been using his wand in his dominant hand for more than two years now, and his left hand is no longer as flexible as it used to be.
Such a flaw might not mean much, and most people would probably not care — including Christian himself. However, while reviewing his experience, something caught his attention while fighting Amenerdis in the second round when her wolf bit his left arm. The wolf's target was his right hand, and he sacrificed his left instead. But what would have happened if the beast had succeeded?
He would have to transfer his wand to his left hand, but the lack of flexibility would have drastically decreased his battle prowess. 'Being ambidextrous should have other uses,' Christian thought. 'For example, double casting.' Christian and his mother had experimented with double casting before, focusing on silent casting and using two different visual images. Unfortunately, the experiment failed, and double casting was labeled impossible — at least based on their current knowledge and ability.
However, he realized he had technically been double-casting, but the process was different than what he had imagined. The key to succeeding is that the wand hand casts the primary spells while the other hand supports it using handweaving magic.
'Once I get back, I'll add left-handed training to the schedule,' Christian finalized. The reviewing process ended, and he found a few things he could improve on, including asking his mother how to properly control the Fiendfyre Curse. This review process was also a form of deep meditation, so Christian was ready to sleep.
Bang! Bang!
"Cristos, open the door."
"Lucretia? Shouldn't you be sleeping? Did something happen?" He rushed to open the door, and Lucretia barged in as soon as no obstacle stood in her way. She climbed to Christian's bed, and to his horror and befuddlement, she removed her tunic.
"Come! Hiccup Have your way with me."
"What…What is happening?" Christian asked, truly baffled.
"No need to be shy," Lucretia continued, an irony since her face was bright red. "I have chosen. Only a divine heir like yourself can bring the Metallus family to new heights."
Christian palmed his face, trying to hide his embarrassment and the absurdity of this situation. "I knew I shouldn't let you drink so much. Put your clothes on, and I'll take you to your room."
"So, you are finally not denying it?" Lucretia said.
"Deny what?" Christian said as he slowly approached her while averting his eyes."
"That you're from a divine lineage."
"I'm not," Christian replied as he transformed her clothes into a cloth that covered her body.
"Well, it doesn't matter if you deny it since I figured it out."
"And how did you do that?" Christian asked while averting his gaze and thinking about how he could sober her up.
"It's because you mentioned Professor Minerva. What's with this pesky cloth?" Lucretia fought with the cloth to remove them and expose herself again.
"Please leave it on," Christian sighed, but Lucretia did not listen.
"Minerva — that's the Roman name of the Goddess Athena. Only someone of divine lineage would have her as a teacher."
"That's just a misunderstanding," Christian sighed. He controlled the cloth to wrap around her body like it was bondage.
"You can say whatever. Anyway, I've chosen you to have divine babies."
"So, you only want me because of what I can do for your family," Christian said as he almost rolled his eyes. Why was this girl fighting with him to remain naked?
"Of course not," Lucretia said, her voice sounding as if she were immensely offended by these words.
"Well, that's how it looks to me."
Lucretia looked him in the eyes, and for the first time amidst this drunken stupor, there was a brief moment of clarity: "I choose you because you're kind, and you would treat me with respect and compassion — just like you do everybody else."
"Who knew a drunkard could say such words?" Christian shook his head. He pointed the wand at her to cast the Shock Spell to jolt her system, shake her mind, and wake her from this drunken slumber. Although this spell was mainly used to treat stress and mental illness, similar to electroconvulsive therapy, it could be used effectively to jolt someone's mind.
Clarity dawned on Lucretia's eyes, and she immediately blushed in embarrassment; she wanted nothing but to bury herself and never have any contact with anyone for the rest of her life. No, it would be better to bury herself deep in the ocean.
"I—"
"No need to say anything," Christian stopped her. "Return to your room, and we will pretend this never happened."
"Fine by me," Lucretia responded before jolting out of the room.