"Where exactly are we going?" Kris asked as she and her friends along with Baren walked down the busy streets of Vytal. Passing by several different shops, she couldn't help but look at what each one of them had for sale.
"Kagami's mother said to visit 'Annie's'." Cheyenne answered with air quotes. "I'm not exactly sure what that is, but she says a visit would help us relax from yesterday. But she was in a hurry for work and only said it was Annie's."
"How helpful." Elise sighed. Her arms swung around with each step she took. "I guess it isn't so bad. All the lights and signs are pretty." She stared up at the tall skyscrapers.
"I'll figure out where Annie's place is." Baren spoke up before quietly stepping to the side to talk to a few others who were passing by.
Stopping in place, Kagami let her shoulders drop as she watched her mentor.
"You okay?" Elise softly asked while placing a hand on her shoulder.
Shaking her head, she took a deep breath before glancing at her. "Yeah, yeah." She nodded to reassure herself. Reaching up, she trailed her fingers against her neck. The wound had healed overnight thanks to her strong aura, but it had left a scar. Another scar. "I mean, yes but no. I'm fine, I'm just..."
"Concerned. I know." The brunet smiled at her. "You're always concerned about everyone. It's really sweet." She slid her hands behind her back.
Staring for a moment, Kris tilted her head before looking up at Cheyenne. "Has Elise been acting weird to you? Or well, more weird than her usual weird?" She crossed her arms.
"I'm not sure." The Faunus glanced at her. "Maybe? I guess? I don't know." She shrugged back just as Baren returned to the group.
"Follow me." The old warrior gestured with her sole arm as she kept walking forward. After a few turns, they came up to a plain building with a simple banner that read 'Annie's.'
"Uh..." Kris blinked rapidly. "Your mom sent us to a nowhere place?"
"It does look like nowhere." Elise agreed with a small nod. "It looks like it's just recently been bought and no one has moved anything in yet."
"Or the windows are really tinted." The redhead leaned in with a raised eyebrow. The windows were rather dark. "Welp. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious." She huffed. Reaching out, she placed a hand on the door and pushed herself inside.
"Wait, what about knocking?" Kagami quickly walked in after her. "Well I guess it is a shop or something. So knocking isn't needed." She blinked a few times and trailed off. Looking around the small front room, she raised an eyebrow.
It was a simple waiting room with a front desk that was currently empty. Despite how dark it looked from the outside, it was very lit up inside. The several lamps and ceiling lights brightened the room up just as much as the sun.
"Um?" She slowly approached the front desk. Seeing no one, she looked around a little more.
"What is this place?" Cheyenne quietly asked.
"I don't even know." Baren gently closed the door behind her. Sniffing the air a bit, her eyes then widened. "No. No, I know where Midori sent us." Her eyes narrowed.
"Huh?" Elise squeaked before jumping as someone came rushing up to the front desk in a stumble.
"Sorry! Didn't know we had new customers!" A woman with dark hair and a pair of headphones skidded behind the desk. Reaching up, she slid her headphones around her neck and quickly began typing away on a computer. "What are you five interested in?"
"Uh, what do you have?" Cheyenne raised a hand.
"Great question." She pointed at her. "We have mud baths, seaweed wraps, scrubs, manicures, pedicures, facials and a whole bunch of other things. Oh! Not to mention Annie's signature special massage!"
"What." Kagami let out rather bluntly. "Wait, did my mom send me to a spa?!" Her eyes grew wide as she took a step back.
"The best spa in all of Vytal." The woman flashed a smile.
"It would be if it didn't look so bloody shady." A man spoke up as he walked out. Pushing up his glasses, he walked while reading over paperwork. "I've been telling Annie we need to upgrade this place."
"Pft, ignore him." She waved him off.
Slowly stepping back towards the door, Kagami jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Stay with your friends." Baren narrowed her eyes slightly while stepping towards the door herself.
"Whoa, whoa, how come you get to leave?" She shot her a glare.
"Because..." She didn't have an answer. Sharply exhaling, she shoved her student towards the rest of her friends. "Just spend the day with them. I'm going to go get some tea. I'll meet you guys back here later."
"Wait! But Baren!" Kagami protested while slouching. She then let out a soft yelp as Elise pulled her towards them.
"This'll be great!" The brunet exclaimed. "I've always wanted to do the spa day thing that I would read about!"
"It does sound nice after everything..." Cheyenne reached up and ran her hand against her antlers. "I wonder if they would polish these."
"We do!" The woman behind the front desk raised a hand.
"Finally!" With a smile, Kris held out her arms. "Finally, we're doing something I want to do! Thank the Gods! The only thing better would be a shopping spree!" With a chaotic grin, she stepped up to the desk. "We'll take one of everything." She set her mother's credit card down.
"Yeah but..." Kagami lowered her shoulders before letting her head fall. "I... okay." She sighed in defeat. A spa day was definitely not how she imagined relaxing. "Thanks, mom." She huffed.
Slouched back in her seat, Kris let out a heavy breath of air. Her entire body was at ease as both her toenails and fingernails were done. "This is absolutely wonderful." She exhaled in relief again. "And this is so soft." She shifted her torso around underneath the thick white robe she had on.
"I do prefer this over fighting Grimm and criminals." Cheyenne spoke while keeping her eyes closed. Her chair was leaned back over a sink. There, a man in white robes was washing her hair along with deep cleaning her antlers.
"The four of you are Huntresses?" He asked.
"Hell yeah we are." Elise softly chuckled. She was laying across a bed with a face mask and her body wrapped in several warm towels. Beside her, there was a tray of over a dozen cups of empty smoothies. And there was another one half drank in her hand. "We've been traveling over half of Remnant punching bad guys in the face. It's fun, but this is nice."
"It really is." Kris nodded. She wasn't even missing her music. Despite the dull look of the front desk and the boring exterior, the back part of the building was peaceful. There were plants all around, a few of them foreign, and water softly trickled from a fountain. The lighting was soft, almost like a sunset. "How ya doing, Kagami?" She glanced back. "You're more quiet than usual."
"Doing great." The jadette forced a smile as she laid on her stomach across a massage table. Heavily breathing in, she clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. She wasn't doing great. She hated the hands on her back. But her friend's were enjoying themselves. She wasn't about to put a stop to that.
Clearly struggling, the woman massaging her pulled back slightly. "Um, one moment please." She softly spoke as she stepped aside. She was far enough away that she couldn't hear Kagami's sigh of relief.
"Hey." The woman peered inside a room with other white robed workers. "I'm having some trouble with a customer."
Scoffing quietly, a man set his scroll down and crossed his arms. "Really? I know you're a new recruit, but come on."
"No, you don't get it." She defended herself. "This girl is really tense. I've been trying to get her shoulders to relax and ease up for the past fifteen minutes. No technique is working."
"Sure, sure." He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Let me show you how a veteran does it." He gestured towards himself.
"He's going to make a fool of himself." A man with short dark hair spoke up as he calmly sat. "His arrogance is going to be his undoing."
"At least he's confident." A blonde man with some scruff spoke. His hair was in a low ponytail. He then held out his hand for emphasis. "I'll give him that."
"He will learn. Eventually." A tanned man exhaled. His hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with a braid on the left side of his head. Seeing a fourth man beside him stand, he leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"
"To find Master Muss." His dark brown hair was in a low ponytail as well. Though he had better taken care of facial hair. Across his upper lip and through his mustache he had a small scar.
Back outside, the overly confident and arrogant man gritted his teeth as he tried to relax Kagami's tense back muscles to no avail.
"I told you." The woman quietly whispered.
"No one asked you." He hissed back. Narrowing his eyes, he pressed harder with the palms of his hands.
"Kagami looks like she's going to kill him." Kris snickered as she stood by Cheyenne. Her nails were now sharp and red. Meanwhile, the Faunus was in the middle of getting her hair done.
"She really does." Elise agreed as she downed yet another smoothie. "Maybe we shouldn't get one of everything. I don't think she'll survive all that."
"Hrm..." The redhead pouted. "I guess you're right." She eyed her. "Is that strawberry banana?"
"Uh, yeah." She nodded. She blinked once before narrowing her eyes. "Heeey! No! Go get your own!" She pulled her drink close.
"But I don't want my own! I want yours!" She reached over.
Quietly laughing, Cheyenne shook her head while bringing her hand over her mouth. Watching her two friends struggle, she only looked away when she heard someone walking.
Looking around the room, a woman with neat clothes but messy dark green hair narrowed her eyes. "What the heck is going on in here?" She half shouted.
Jumping, both workers who were trying to massage Kagami quickly turned around. The woman squeaked a bit. "Annie!"
"Muss!" The man stood upright. "We were just-"
"No, you were making a very unhappy customer." She pointed at him with a glare before walking over. "Do you think she's going to want to come back again? Hmm?" She gestured towards Kagami.
"Pretty sure she didn't want to in the first place." Cheyenne whispered under her breath.
Exhaling, Annie reached up and rubbed her face. "The two of you are dismissed." She waved the two massagers off. Spinning around on her heels, she clasped her hands together and smiled. "How about I make it up to all of you for their rudeness? Each of you can have a free special one on one with me."
"...please no..." Kagami mumbled as she brought her head up.
"A special one on one with you?" Elise tilted her head curiously. "What makes it special?"
"Well, you know how you space out when you're relaxing?" She waved her hand around. "I can fill that empty space. Not physically, but my semblance allows me to tap into your genetic history while I massage you. While you're spacing out I can give you a three dimensional view of your own history. You'll come back refreshed and with more knowledge about where you came from! Isn't that wonderful?"
"I'm sorry, what...?" Kris held up a finger. "What kind of dumb semblance is that?!"
"It's the power of the one and only Annie Muss." She pointed at herself with her thumb. "I hope it'll make up for their behavior. They're still learning. My apologies." She lowered her head slightly.
"I..." Kagami blinked. "N-No, it's fine. Um..." Eyeing her friends, she exhaled and let her body go limp on the table. "We'll try your special massage. Thank you."
"No problem! Happy to help." Annie nodded.
"I guess this could be cool." Cheyenne quietly mumbled. Eyeing the man who finished her hair, she smiled softly. Reaching up, she ran her fingers through her silk like hair and across her smooth white antlers. "Thank you. So much." She exhaled in relief. Her head has never felt so clean before. It was great.