008. "A Time to Relax."
Cyril lead us into an alley covered in darkness from the series of buildings that towered over the path.
We stopped halfway into the alley, Cyril stepped up to a backdoor of a building, banging it three times.
The door was cracked open. A young adult human, no older than their mid-20's stood behind the door.
“Name?” They asked.
“Cyril.” He replied.
"Welcome, sir.”
The servant opened the door, stepping aside allowing us to come in. They looked at me.
"You had a reservation for... two?" They asked, looking at both Lily and I a bit confused.
"Three.” Cyril said, raising three fingers. “If it’s possible of course."
The servant nodded.
"I can make the arrangements, please come in and have a seat while I get everything ready for the three of you."
"Thank you." Cyril replied, allowing both Lily and I in first. He followed behind while the servant closed the door behind us and locked it, going off into another room.
I took a quick glance around the room we were in. It was dark with the lack of windows, the interior only being lit by various candles throughout the room.
Lily walked past me, sitting on the finely decorated couch in the center of the room.
She sighed, taking off her hood.
It was the first time I could see her full face. She had pale skin like Cyril and I, same for her long black straight hair. Her red eyes were on full display.
The shape of her ears however resembled those of a human.
I thought she was a dark elf, but instead she was a vampire. A race of individuals born from the bond of a dark elf and human.
Unfortunately, another cursed race a majority would call it.
"What is it little elf?" Lily said, noticing I was staring at her.
"S-sorry!" I looked down at the ground, quickly sitting down on the other end of the sofa.
“Lily, dear.” Cyril interjected. “I don’t think our little elf see’s vampires often where she lives.”
“Which is?” She asked.
“The Kingdom,” I muttered. “In the main castle.”
“Bullshit." Lily replied.
“She’s telling the truth.” Cyril smirked.
Lily looked to him.
"How can you tell?"
"The color of her cloak is made of the finest materials only those in the Kingdom can acquire, it was the first thing I noticed about Vivian when I first met her." Cyril walked over and stood next to me, pointing to the mark on my left wrist. "Her mark of banishment also has some unique symbols compared to those of a commoner. I've never seen them."
“Hmm...” Lily scratched her cheek. "You'll have to tell me more."
Cyril smiled.
“Once we’re settled dear.”
The servant from earlier came back in.
"Thank you for waiting." They said, looking at Cyril. "The hot spring is ready with all the included amenities. Please let me know if you need anything else sir."
"Thank you again." Cyril nodded.
The servant gave a small bow and walked into another room in the opposite direction.
"Hot spring?" I asked.
"Yes, the bathhouse is on the other side of the building where most customers enter." Cyril walked over to the entrance of the room where the servant was setting up our amenities.
"The hot spring is separated since most can't afford it, also the privacy is a bonus." Cyril said walking in.
Lily got up, giving herself a quick stretch.
"We can also have our men keep watch in the alley, it's more secure here than in a public setting."
Lily followed behind Cyril as they both entered the room. I got up and followed the two of them. Inside the room over was a long wooden bench going across. Three empty baskets sat behind the bench with towels in front.
Before I could even ask, Cyril was lifting off his shirt showing off his bare chest and scars all across his body. Lily meanwhile took off her cloak, and began to unbutton her shirt showing her bra underneath.
I blushed a little looking at Lily.
"S-so are we taking turns?" I asked.
Cyril laughed.
"No dear, we're all sharing of course. There is plenty of room in the hot spring for the three of us."
I wasn't phased when he began taking off his bottoms, but looking over to Lily, she took off her bra and was completely topless.
I shuffled with my hands.
Lily gave a small smirk.
"I think she's shy."
"Vivian? Are you going to be okay?" Cyril asked.
"Depends..." I took a deep breath and exhaled.
“I... always didn't look like this." I could feel my skin crawl as I tried to explain myself. "I had undergone a transformation spell from Forest Elves that handled youth like myself who saw themselves as girls when their bodies didn't match, the procedure went perfectly fine, but I told them to leave one thing and—"
“It’s fine, Vivian." Cyril interjected. "You don't need to go into the details."
"A-are you sure?" I asked.
He nodded.
"You are who you are." He looked over to Lily. "Lily?"
“I could care less.” She said, fully nude now as she dumped all of her clothes into one of the bins behind the bench. “I’ve been waiting months to get into this hot spring, hurry up and join us, or don't. We have limited time.”
“Indeed.” Cyril said finishing taking off the last of his clothing and depositing his outfit into the bin. He gave Lily a quick kiss on the lips and turned to me. “We’ll see you there, okay Vivian?”
I nodded.
“Thank you.” I said.
The two of them were holding hands as they made their way to the hot springs in the next room over.
I quickly began to take off my clothes, soon depositing my outfit into the bin and walking into the hot spring. Naked.
The temperature of the room was higher than the other two rooms we were in. Steam filled the air from the heat coming off the hot spring.
Cyril and Lily were sitting next to each other in the spring, Cyril giving a small wave.
I smiled, giving a small wave back to the two of them. Slowly dipping my feet into the hot spring.
My skin tingled from the rise in temperature when I began to dip into the water, but my body quickly got use to the change and... It felt soothing, I sat up against the wall in the spring and extended my legs.
I finally had a moment of ease after so many weeks of stress and adjustment to living outside of the Kingdom.
"How is it?" Cyril asked.
"...I needed this." I said, closing my eyes.
We all sat there in silence for a moment. Outside of the sound of running water, the room was quiet compared to the chaos of the town we walked through only a few minutes ago.
"So, Vivian, was it?" Lily asked.
"Yes?"
"Cyril briefly told me about you before you came in here. Your gift allows you to use dark magic, freely?"
"Yes, ever since I was born."
"and... have you shown Cyril any of your skills? What you can do?"
I shook my head.
"Most of the spells I studied would of put the ship crew at risk."
"Ever been in combat then?"
"No? I'm a researcher."
Lily sighed.
"I'll teach you the basics of combat when we arrive at base then."
"Don't you two have protection to help with that?" I asked.
"We do, but if you are around Cyril and I you need to learn how to defend yourself. You can't rely on others to save you."
I looked over to Cyril.
"She's telling the truth." He said. "As cruel as it is, your life takes priority when it comes to battle. We have protection, but those men are there to warn us if danger is coming more than anything else.
"Warn you?" I asked.
Cyril sighed.
"We recently got caught in the sights of a group of mercenaries. I wouldn't call them professionals, but they are experienced. We lost a few men this past year from people hunting the two of us."
"Mercenaries?"
Lily nodded.
"They set up a camp near one of our bases when they found out vampires were nearby. The Empire rewards those that slay individuals like myself. So... we took care of it."
"...how did you take care of the camp?" I asked.
"Myself and several of my own people came in at night and attacked. We killed a few in their sleep, fought the rest that put up a fight against us. I'd say only three people at most escaped and left the camp behind."
I felt my stomach turn...
"...you killed them?" I said.
"We're a clan composed of dark elves, vampires, and various outcasts. What did you expect?"
"Cyril?"
"We do what we need to survive, Vivian." He said. "That includes taking the lives of those that threaten violence onto us.
"..."
I sat there in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say.
Lily got up and slowly went across the hot spring, standing over me.
"Vivian, you haven't lived through a day here in the Empire. You'll soon learn why we do what we do."
— Written by Froey. —