Chapter 200: Indoor Pool

After our most recent excursion into a dark place where we’re hunted, no one particularly wants to go to the moonlight forest. Except, of course, for Sylves. Because she says the moon is pretty. I’m sure that this decision is not at all driven by the essence she’s taken from the moonlit pond. Surely.

Tragically, she gets outvoted. Opal wants to pick the winding tunnels of steaming water because, in their words, it looks like a bathhouse and seems pleasant. Thatch just wants to not fight to his death for a little while, which, like, fair to be honest. And so, it is decided that we’ll go into the liminal bathhouse tunnel.

I step through, and instantly, the air changes. I feel warmth against my skin, and humidity. The air smells of steam, and I hum quietly as I step further in. The others follow soon, and Inu is ahead of me. I pulse my mana again, doing my best to hide the stream of magical energy. Seeing like this is a constant drain on my resources and focus, and it’s also a bit awkward, but it’s the best I got. 

Warm, inviting, if a bit sterile tile is laid out in a long row in front of us. And we walk down the tunnel. There’s a dull hum in the air as we walk along, accompanied only by the slight sound of water lapping at a pool’s edges. The kind of faint splashing that comes from things too small to be waves.

And, indeed, the tunnel brings us to a pool. It’s a strange thing to see, because it’s almost Earth-like. Tile lines the inside of it, a pale blue intended to make the water more appealing. Meanwhile, all around it, there is medieval looking stone, forming an edge. Like an amalgam of different times. The water pours into the pool with a soft splattering noise from a fountain. 

It’s carved in a beautiful, swerving design, made to resemble a waterfall, carved from stone. It also has a handle, to determine the temperature of the pool. I tilt my head. Without hesitation, Opal approaches the handle, and I tilt my head further. The enby reaches for it.

“That’s so trapped,” Thatch says politely, and Opal stops dead in their tracks, their hand hovering midair. 

“I want to take a hot bath, though,” they pout.

Slowly, I blink. Were they always this dumb? Is this what I look like to the others? “Are you sure about this, Opal?” I ask.

They give me their best puppy-eyes and then, slowly, shake their head. “I guess not,” they sigh. “It might not be worth it. What’s the trap.”

“No clue,” I shrug, and Thatch gives an equally unsure response. Opal sighs, painfully, and withdraws their hand from the handle, looking at it wistfully.

“A shame,” they say. “A shame.” Then, they take a step back, and the stone below their foot sinks into the ground with a click. I look at them. They look at us.

The fountain opens up, and a torrent of water slams into their chest, sending them flying into the wall with a crash. Their pained yelp quickly turns into a gurgle when the water flows over them, soaking them to the bone. A heartbeat passes, and they crash to the floor with a resounding thud, landing on their ass, the water flowing off them, and gliding along the tiles, back into the pool. 

Another moment later, they’re laughing heartily. I sigh slightly and walk over, then channel some mana to heal their bruises. They look at me with a wide grin, and I hold up a finger just as they breathe in to say something stupid.

“If you say you wanna go again, I fear Thatch might strangle you to death,” I whisper quietly. Opal swallows, then nods. Louder, for the rest of the group, I say, “so. What did we learn from this?”

I see their face twist just a little as their dislocated shoulder pops back into place. “Do I… have to learn something?” 

“Yes,” Inu says, rolling her eyes. 

Opal smiles and nods, scratching the back of their head. “Right, right. I get it. Trust our scouts, I guess. And to let them go first.”

“Good,” Inu nods. “Also, get yourself some kind of sight or instinct. Thatch has a danger sense, and I bet you didn’t even realize.”

I didn’t either. Whoops. But I am absolutely not telling anyone that. A pulse of mana passes outwards from me as I try my best not to look at Thatch. But he’s staring at me. He knows I didn’t know. How scary.

“We should let him go first, then,” I say quietly. When I pulse my mana again, there is a smile on Thatch’s lips, and he nods. 

“We sure should,” he says easily, then heads ahead of us, picking a tunnel at random. They’re all the same tile, with lights that flicker faintly, and words that echo off the clean halls. Simple and expansive. I follow him carefully, making sure not to step on any tile he doesn’t step on, while Sylves floats in the air next to me.

I can almost hear her smug expression, but I don’t pulse my mana to see it.

- - -

It’s getting warmer. The steam is getting denser, and it feels a little harder to breathe. I’m the first to notice as much, because even with Jean, I’m the most fragile. Also, I still have a hole in my lung, so like. Yeah.

But yes, it’s definitely getting warmer. The rooms are heating up, the tile feeling almost hot, even through my shoes. It’s a strange sensation. I also think the tunnels are all sloping downwards, just a little. There are no windows - even if they were, I doubt they’d be changing. 

With nothing else to do, we keep walking, the soft click-clack of the stones as our only companion.

Until Thatch steps on a trap.

There’s a clicking as the pressure plate descends, the tile soon springing back up, perfectly into place. A soft hissing noise fills the surroundings. It’s not dangerous - hence why his skill didn’t pick it up - but instead, it just raises the surrounding temperature a little. The steam thickens again, and my skin feels wet. My clothes stick to me, and I wrap Kuro around me more to hide my silhouette.

Thatch looks at us as if expecting admonition, but all he gets is a few shrugs. Opal even smiles. “I always wanted to go to a sauna! Glad to finally get the chance.”

The silly comment breaks the tension. Thatch manages a small smile, and nods quietly. Then, mana travels to his eyes, and I imagine they glint emerald - my [Observation] is not sophisticated enough yet to show me colours, so I have to rely on my fantasy. With renewed confidence, he walks forward. Deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine indoor pool.

- - -

After a few hours, I have to wipe my skin. The water is condensing on it with the heat all around us. The air feels hot and cloying in my lungs, and thick mist covers the tunnels. It’s so dense, it even disperses my scans when I deploy them. 

The humming has gotten louder and louder, bit by bit, and with the steam, the mana pressure around us is rising a little, too. Jean looks almost sickly, and I can barely breathe anymore, but still we keep walking. My skin is covered in a mix of condensation and sweat, my body trying desperately to shed heat, even though it works poorly. 

Once again, I wish Jess were here, so she could use [Freeze] on me. Walking got boring a little while ago, even though I sometimes still stumble, mainly because of the prosthetic. So, I’ve been flipping through the book, bit by bit, letting it push the pages into my mind word by word.

The heat in the air continues to rise. And I continue to get more annoyed at the hum and loudening drip-drop of the water. Despite that, though, we walk. And walk, and walk, and walk.

A drop of water falls from the ceiling, searing my skin.

“Is this what being a frog in a well is like?” I ask, my own voice sounding strained. The air is so hot it would already be boiling an unenhanced human alive. Inu is still relatively unbothered, but Opal and Sylves are already showing signs of suffering. Jean is, too, of course, and then there’s me.

I’m beginning to hit my limit here, you know?