Chapter 2: The Temple Baths

After the creation of the two Starsight Gems, Anya collected the two jewels with a promise that her acolytes would mount them on something appropriate for each adventurer so that the gems could be easily — and consistently — worn without any fear of losing the goddess-given treasures. This done, the high priestess escorted the three adventurers out of the small chamber into which they had appeared in the wake of the Starseed’s teleportation spell.

As the foursome walked through the sprawling temple complex, Lexi stared in amazement at the architecture, the whole thing being filled with enormous marble columns and gracefully domed ceilings that reminded the paladin of the kind of Romanesque architecture she associated with the Italian Renaissance. They came to a stop in a large chamber that had, on one end, a wide staircase leading up into a sunny veranda, and another stair leading down into a torchlit corridor that appeared to stretch for some distance below the ground floor which they had occupied thus far.

“It is here that we will part company until the feast tonight,” Anya said. Looking to Samantha, who yet held Gretel’s tightly wrapped remains, the high priestess opened her arms invitingly. “If you would trust me with your friend, I will ensure that her body given as much care as we are capable of while you complete your quest.”

It was a sobering moment for all three of the adventurers, handing Gretel’s lifeless body off to the high priestess. Lexi felt, in that moment, like a thread in her story’s tapestry had just been cut, and that until the stray thread was re-knotted everything would run the risk of unraveling entirely. Rather than discourage the paladin, however, this sense of her party’s incompleteness only served to inspire Lexi. Come hell or high water, she would get Gretel back.

“If you three will follow the other staircase,” the high priestess gestured to the sunlit stone courtyard visible through the large arched passageway at the stair’s top. “You’ll find acolytes prepared to escort you to the temple baths. Please enjoy yourselves and accept all the hospitality which we can offer to you in thanks for having returned so sacred of a relic to us.”

“Thank you,” Lexi said, wondering briefly at Anya’s emphasis on the word “all,” but shrugging it off. The paladin turned to Danica and Samantha as the high priestess descended down into the crypt below. “Well, we’re all pretty fucking disgusting right now, so how about we head on up?”

Disgusting was hardly an exaggeration. All three girls were covered nearly from head to toe in blood and grime, with the two humans having additional splatters of dried cum intermingled with the gory patches of goblin blood. The elf, with her emphasis on ranged combat and her luck in having escaped the more rapey of the tentacles, was the cleanest of the three — but even her small form had barely any spots which were unmarked by some evidence of the gruesome combat in which the adventurers had so recently engaged.

“Agreed,” Samantha said with a soft sigh. “I can scarcely recall the last time I was in more need of bathing. The temple baths are actually quite famous throughout the entire region, but are incredibly exclusive. So, we should be in for quite the treat.”

The monk actually winked at Lexi when she emphasized the word “quite,” which again had the paladin wondering if there was some kind of subtext in Anya’s offer that she was missing — something everyone from Astyanax would know about the baths that she, as an outsider, was totally ignorant of. Her train of thought was broken by an unabashed squeal of joy issuing from Danica.

“Yaaayyy!” the elf cried, striking an absurd looking victory pose with her fists raised in the air triumphantly. “Bath time for Danica!”

Stifling a laugh, Lexi mussed the elf’s hair affectionately. “C’mon squirt, lets get a move on before you burst out of your clothes right here.”

“You’ve got to understand,” Danica rattled excitedly as the trio ascended the stairs. “Elves love love love bathing. It’s a big thing with us. I don’t know anything about these baths, but back in my village we have a really nice outdoor bath that everyone uses, and it’s so nice, probably even better than what they’ve got here at the temple, since elves are so super particular about cleanliness and all, but—”

For once, the elf’s chattering was cut off not by the interruption of her comrades — or by a large hand clamping over her mouth — but by the sheer awe which overwhelmed the young ranger when the three adventurers crossed the threshold into the temple baths. The effect was hardly limited to Danica either. Both Samantha and Lexi goggled, mouths agape, at the wondrous place at which they had arrived.

Whatever Lexi might have been expecting, this was certainly not it.

The large courtyard into which the archway led was open to the sky, allowing the sun’s warm rays to bathe the trio as soon as they stepped out of the cool marbled halls. In the very center of the courtyard was set a rectangular pool, with steps descending on all four sides into the pristinely clear waters within. A number of patrons lounged already in the water, reclining against ergonomically designed pieces of marble scattered about the pool, enabling each individual to fully relax within the cool water without having their heads submerged — almost like a kind of stone pool chair.

On the all three sides apart that through which the great stair from the main temple complex led, the courtyard was lined with vast covered areas, supported by neat rows of enormous marble columns. Set at regular intervals within this ring were large arched doorways which from which the waft of steaming and scented oils emerged. In truth, everything Lexi was seeing now made her realize that this was much less what she would have considered a “bath” — in other words, just a place to bathe oneself — and more like a spa or resort. That explained completely why Samantha and Danica were so extremely keen on visiting.

You know, a spa day is actually EXACTLY what I could use after all the shit I’ve been through over the last few days.