"Pant… pant… How can you guys run that much?" Selena gasped, sprawled on her back in the grass. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath.
After Sara tagged Nyx at the start, Nyx chased me for a while, lost track, and eventually stumbled across Selena hiding behind a trash can—again. For some reason, she frequently hides behind a trash can. I wasn't sure what happened after that, but once the five-hour time limit was up, we all returned to the starting point to finish the game, like always.
"What happened to her?" I asked, dropping a bottle of water next to Selena.
"She couldn't catch us the whole five hours," Sara said cheerfully.
"Huh? So she's been running around that entire time?" I frowned.
"Yes," Sara replied, practically beaming.
"Sara… we established a rule about this." I rubbed my temple. "There's no point in having one of us be 'it' the entire game."
"What do you mean by that?" Nyx tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"If the person who's 'it' stays that way for over an hour, someone else takes over," I explained, shooting Sara a look. "Usually, whoever was being chased can tag in, and the person who was 'it' gets immunity for twenty minutes. Sara, that rule was created with you in mind. Do you remember now?"
Sara's smug expression wilted under my glare. "R-right… I forgot," she admitted, her voice small.
"You forgot? You cried when it happened to you," I said, exasperated.
"Ren, calm down," Selena interjected, still lying flat. "It's just a game."
"It's not about you," I muttered, glancing between them. "It's about following rules."
"So you'd rather we paused every hour?" Selena asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Well," she sighed, "it was extra cardio for me. And I was only trying to find Nyx—I couldn't track either of you."
"Sara, where were you hiding?" I asked, turning to her.
"Oh, I was hopping around in people's shadows the whole time," she said smugly, letting out a small chuckle.
"For five hours?" I blinked.
"I know, right? I've improved a lot," Sara said, her grin widening.
"…You have indeed done well," I admitted, nodding despite myself.
"Hehe."
Nyx watched this whole exchange, eyes wide. "Do you all do this… often?"
"Yes," Selena and I said in unison.
"And my sister just lets you run around like this?" Nyx looked skeptical.
"Yes," I said simply. "After we promised not to use our abilities to blow things up, anyway. We still get complaints, but not enough to get fined."
Nyx crossed her arms. "I see. I wonder what the duke would say about this."
"…He doesn't get to have a say," I said evenly, narrowing my eyes.
"My father wouldn't agree."
"Not our problem."
"That, too."
There was a pause.
"…So, what are we doing now?" I asked, eager to change the subject.
"Bathhouse!" Sara exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air.
"Ugh… why?" Selena groaned, finally sitting up.
"Well," Sara said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that Nyx couldn't hear, "as Ren said… we've got a babe with us. And it's always funny watching you stare at girls' asses."
Selena's glare could have melted stone. Sara immediately ducked behind me.
"Sigh… Nyx, are you okay with using public baths?" I asked, ignoring Selena's murderous expression.
"What's a public bath?" Nyx tilted her head—and gods, was that a cute gesture.
"Eh—" Selena squeaked, her face going pink.
"That was a weird noise, Selena," I teased, grinning.
"If you don't even know what it is, then never mind," Sara said, rolling her eyes. "We'll just use the big bath at the house."
"What?" I said innocently, pretending not to understand.
"Can you please teleport us to the warehouse?" Sara sighed, her patience thinning.
"Oh, you mean my house," I said pointedly.
"Ours."
"It's mine," I said, and teleported us to the garden before she could argue further.
"Thank you," Sara grumbled.
"Um… what about our pegasi?" Nyx asked suddenly, reminding us she was still new to all this.
"Right—does your pegasus have any recall spells?" I asked, realizing we hadn't thought about her mounts yet.
"I have one for her," Nyx nodded.
"Okay. You can call her back—our pegasi have already returned. Use any open space near the barn," I said, gesturing toward it.
"All right."
[Ten minutes later]
The sky had started to soften into gold as the afternoon settled over the garden. Sunlight filtered through the half-built archways and draped lazily across the grass. I teleported into the courtyard with a soft whoosh of displaced air—Nyx still standing where we left her, near the stables.
She flinched as I appeared beside her. "Ah! You need to stop doing that," she said, hand over her heart.
I snorted. "Get used to it. I do that a lot."
Nyx exhaled slowly, brushing her snow-white bangs back behind a horn. "Your home is... different from what I expected," she said, glancing around. Her eyes lingered on the half-finished walls, exposed beams, and flower beds arranged with no particular logic.
"You expected a palace?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," she said softly. "Just… something more complete."
I followed her gaze and shrugged. "Still building. There is a shortage of materials, time, manpower, and motivation. I gestured toward the stone paths that trailed off into dirt. "Besides, I don't like things too polished. This makes it feel like someone else's home.
"Right." Nyx's tone was thoughtful, not judgmental.
There was a pause as she looked toward the barn. "My pegasus is settled in," she added. "The call spell worked fine."
"Good. Use any stall that isn't claimed," I said. "Most of ours wander back on their own, unless someone lures them off with sugar cubes."
She gave a soft laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Anyway, I figured you hadn't joined us yet because you didn't know where to go."
Nyx nodded. "Correct. I didn't want to open the wrong door and end up in a weapons room or something."
"…That has actually happened before," I said with a smirk. "Sara once ended up in the pantry trying to find the bathroom and just ate dried mangoes for an hour."
Nyx chuckled again. The sound was light, but still rare enough that I noted it.
"I was about to come find you. The bath's ready."
She gave a small nod. "Then lead the way."
I turned and gestured for her to follow. As we walked, she glanced around the property again—part curiosity, part wariness. It made sense. She was used to garrisons and regimental quarters, not half-lush, half-broken estates run by unsupervised teenagers with more power than sense.
"You're wondering where everything is," I said.
"Yes."
"Well, we can do a proper tour later. Maybe tomorrow. Once I've figured out what counts as 'finished.'"
"That works."
[Sixteen minutes later]
The bathhouse sat nestled in a vine-draped wing of the main building, finished earlier than the rest because Sara insisted on "priority for cleanliness." The walls were carved with shallow sigils to hold heat and humidity, and the floors were slick but warm beneath our feet.
"This one's for used clothes; clean towels are in there," I said, pointing to the shelves. "Grab a towel, wrap it around yourself, and meet us through that door. Water's hot."
Nyx nodded, her gaze dipping briefly toward my feet again before looking away, flustered.
I left her to it and pushed through the steam-warmed doors to find the usual chaos.
"Ah, finally," Sara said, draped across the edge of the massive bath like a lazy cat. Her towel was tied tightly around her head, and a gooey green mask covered most of her face. "We were beginning to shrivel without you."
"You look like you're melting," I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Beauty takes sacrifice," she declared, waving me off.
Selena was floating nearby, completely horizontal, eyes closed like she might be meditating or napping.
"Selena, this isn't a swimming pool."
"It's relaxing," she replied, not moving.
"You look like you drowned."
"Then bury me with honor."
I rolled my eyes and stepped into the water, letting the warmth seep into my skin. My muscles immediately loosened, tension I didn't know I was holding slipping away.
Selena squinted one eye open at me. "Don't splash."
"Then stop floating like a dead fish."
"Rude."
The door creaked open again, and Nyx stepped through, hesitantly clutching her towel. She scanned the room and looked briefly unsure where to go.
"Uh, how does this work?" she asked, glancing between us.
"She's cute when she's confused," Sara mumbled from beneath her face mask.
I ignored that. My gaze drifted across Nyx's form—her towel tucked tightly, her posture upright but uncertain. Her scales shimmered faintly against the warm steam, along her elbows, knees, and just a glimpse across her shoulders and back.
Hers were fewer than mine, and they were less jagged and more polished than mine. Was that because she was further from the human side of her lineage? Could it be the other way around?
She didn't notice my stare. Or maybe she was too polite to mention it.
"Just join us in the water," Sara said, waving. "We'll soak first, then rinse off."
"Alright," Nyx said, stepping carefully into the bath.
She sat down next to me. The water rippled gently between us.
For a moment, there was just quiet—the warm water, the dim lighting, and the soft hiss of rising steam.
"I like this," Nyx said softly.
I turned slightly toward her. "What part?"
"This... peace. No orders. No noise. Just... existing."
That hit harder than I expected.
"Yeah," I said after a moment. "That's kind of the point of this place."
I leaned my head back against the edge of the bath, letting the steam soften the tension in my shoulders.
'Right… I haven't really thought about it like that.'
It was easy to forget what things used to feel like. Constant drills. Orders. Eyes always watching. Pretending to be stronger than I was. Pretending I didn't care.
'It's really fun, this change.'
No war. No politics. No endless need to impress someone or prove something. Just warmth, water, and friends bickering over bath seating.
'I think having Liny next to me helped me forget how stressed I was back then.'
My fingers idly traced a ripple in the water. I hadn't thought about her in a while—not seriously. But now, in the calm, she came to mind. Her calm presence. Her quiet loyalty.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, eyes drifting up to the ceiling.
'This… is better.'