"Good morning princess, it is time to be awake," the words reach me as if they were whispers crawling through a cave. I turn over pulling covers atop my head feeling the drag of hair clinging to the blankets in a static fueled dance. A soft sigh reaches my ears as Vishnal gives a curt nudge. "You are quite the stubborn one Princess, but it is you yourself who asked me to wake you this morning." Now its my turn to sigh, "Just five more minutes then?" I ask on the exhale. There is a moments pause as Vishnal steps away, perhaps he has given in to my demands. The heeled footsteps of perfectly polished shoes recede across the marble as I allow my squinted eyes to seal shut.
"Your request has been granted," he calls across the room, his voice is always so soothing though a bit sad. I dwell on his voice for a bit, recalling it's soothing nature until I fall asleep again. The next thing I know I'm being called for and this time there is a vigor to the way he says "good morning." Without opening my eyes I can already imagine the maddened determination that is undoubtedly marking Vishnal's face right now.
"Okay, okay, I'm up now geez." I peek half of my face out as a white flag of surrender.
Vishnal lingers for a bit as I stagger out of bed. He begins telling me about the upcoming festival and gets flustered about how he's going to prevail this year thanks to all of his training. There's that familiar determination flickering in his eyes again. Before long he hurries out ranting about his duties nearly tripping over my misplaced storage trunk.
Things are strewn about my room in an uncharacteristically disorderly fashion. I spent all yesterday crafting dozens of sour drops ransacking my backpack and storage for any spare oranges. I feel my face heat up as I think about it. "Silly silly," pinching my cheeks I kneel down and begin cleaning up the mess. I didn't make all of these just because a guy mentioned he likes grilled seafood. I mean there is a fishing festival coming up tomorrow I'm just preparing myself for afterwards. My hand drifts over a couple of packets of charm blue seeds and that just sends my face to a whole new heat.
"I just need some fresh air is all," mumbling to myself I toss the seeds to the very bottom of storage and grab a few provisions.
The air outside is crisp and cool. It isn't quite winter but each and every morning there is a growing preview of the chill that is to come. At this time of day there is barely anyone out, the whole courtyard is empty with the exception of chattering birds and leaves spinning away from the trees. I let my reddened cheeks simmer down in the morning's frigid caresses losing my thoughts to the clouds. The sensible part of my head is urging me to tend to the fields and the monsters that are nuzzled together in the warmth of the barns. Then there is the irrational, rouge thought that pushes my feet towards the Bell Hotel.
"I'm just going to go for a bath," I tell myself though the thought of the bath house brings roses to my cheeks.
"He-o" Xiao Pai says in her sing song voice. It's early but already people are milling about the lobby, I wonder briefly how early Lin Fa and her daughter must wake to tend to all the people that stay here.
Normally I'd scrutinize her enunciation, the girl has become quite endearing and hearing her mispronunciation makes me smile instead.
"Hi, hi Xiao Pai." I say charming her with the rhymed greeting. I pull a curry bun from within my rucksack and hand it to her as a thanks for using the baths. The bath house services are now free to citizens here however I still feel a little guilty about using, or should I say abusing them so freely. Closing my backpack I spy a grilled rainbow trout that was hastily wrapped and stuffed into my belongings. I sigh outwardly which confuses Xiao Pai.
"It's nothing!" I say blushing and stumbling up the first stair.
"I thought you were taking a bath, or are you going to visit Leon? He really likes those rainbow trout y'know?" she asks innocently.
Blinking away my confusion I realize I have already started heading up the stairs that are nestled right beside the reception desk. A few more steps and I could have slipped into the baths but it is here that my feet finally betray me. By now our conversation has caught the attention of the other hotel residents who were talking in hushed tones before. The pressure of their stares embarrasses me even more and I decide to commit to the decision of my appendages and bound up the stairs. And then SMACK! My closed eyes flicker to stars and my nose goes from the normal blush of an exasperated girl to the white hot feeling of incoming blood.
"What the!?" A surprised voice shouts. I'm in too much shock to say anything but my eyes snap open at the sound of this familiar voice.
"L-leon" I finally manage to choke out. I want to say sorry for bumping into him and explain that I was headed to the baths and made a wrong turn by mistake but blood from my nose trickles down to my lip as my hands quickly shoot up to cover my face. I peer at the exposed portion of his chest that I just took a dive into and feel my face grow hot. Thankfully I couldn't be blushing any more than I already am so I've got that going for me.
"Sorry!" I whimper, holding my nose with one hand and digging through my bag for some cheap cloth with another. I yank the fabric out of my bag so quickly that several contents spill out with the force and promptly begin tumbling down the stairs. I glance down at the items that have settled at various intervals on the staircase and to my horror two items sit paired at the very foot of the stairs; a love potion and the rainbow trout that I briskly shoved into my bag this morning.
"Interesting." Leon says in a mocking tone. He bends down to pick up the cloth that I've apparently dropped and gently pushes it into my fingers that are probably locked in rigor mortise; because that's got to be it, I'm dead right?
"Is this for me?" Leon calls, at some point during my daze he picked up all the spilled items and now stands below me holding up the rainbow trout. "This too?" he adds making a scene out of bending down to pick up the love potion. "And they're both handmade, wow you're quite impressive." he finishes with a chuckle. His eyes are sparkling mischievously as they look up at me; I wish I had a moment to compose myself but I can feel that my expression is nothing less than horrified embarrassment.
Fight or flight response finally kicks in and I sprint down the stairs pushing past Leon and to the right, shoving open the door to the women's baths. I fling down my pack and change in a hurry to hide beneath the rippling warm surface of the bath house waters. As soon as my body hits the water I collapse into it letting it sink over everything shy of my chin. A pink tinge accumulates nearby my face as my bloody nose contaminates the water. I know I should get out and clean myself up a bit but these recent events have my heart pounding and my body shaking with humiliation. I just want to lay in here until I dissolve and become one with the water.
The calm waters eventually lull my mind into a peaceful reflection, how did I get to this point? Last night I stayed up so late making sour drops that I was in a sleep deprived giddy state and tried making a love potion. I never thought I'd be successful at it, it was just a joke. "It's not like I would have given it to him anyways" I groan aloud. When did I start falling for this idiot anyways it's not like I've known him all that long. Flashback to the moment I met him, waking up in the centuries old dust on the floor. A man decorated in fine clothes and shining jewelry with eyes that hid both wisdom and pain. He seemed so somber, quickly coming to terms with what had happened. I wanted to save him, to save the man who first decided to throw everything away for our friend. I guess with the way Venti talked about him and those first impressions I fell in love with a fairy tale.
A soft knock breaks my concentration and my attention shifts back to reality and the intricately carved door.
"Uhm you don't have to knock you can come in," I call out to the considerate patron.
The door creaks open to just a slit and the voice that answers me makes the steamy room feel like the cold morning air.
"Are you giving me permission to join you then?" Leon asks. "Honestly the guys and I were just going to wait for you to finish. Joining you is a touch inappropriate in my opinion but if you're okay with it, it sure beats just waiting around." his voice is dripping in mockery.
It is then I realize, in all my haste I rushed into the men's bath. Without hesitation I fire up an escape spell and don't even stop to wonder where exactly it will take me.
