Chapter 21 “splash”

Everyone was comfortable on the couch for longer than they anticipated. After all, it had been a while since they had a decent sleep. This bit of respite was essential. Before nightfall, they agreed on getting refreshed before heading out.

“Ewww, I've been sleeping in sweaty clothes,” Sarah was the first to head to the shower. Right before she entered, she grabbed Arachnia and Verona by the hands.

“What are you doing?” Arachnia asked as she was being pulled along.

“I could use help hand washing my hair,” She said to both of them.

All of them had reasonably long hair except for Arachnia. After taking out her braids, Sarah’s hair reached down to her knees. Once cold water touched her hair, it shrunk towards her lower waist.

“This is going to take forever,” Arachnia commented unenthusiastically as she applied conditioner to different sections of Sarah’s hair.

“How long does this usually take?” Verona couldn’t help but wonder.

“About 5 hours, with usually up to 3 washes,” Sarah said as though it were a regular routine. Arachnia was utterly astounded by the lengthy process of washing out her hair.

“That’s such a lengthy process, I can’t believe you do this often” Arachnia admitted.

“Oh my gosh, the real question is,” Sarah pouted as she turned backwards towards them. Her hair tugged away as they were trying to work on her hair. “What do I have to eat to get a body like yours?”

“I-I really never thought about that?... up until recently all I did was consume the souls of others I guess?...”Verona answered without much thought.

“What about you arachnia” Sarah really didn’t know how to respond to veronas statement just yet

“I don’t really know I mean I just eat normally I guess. Honestly nothing special”

“I’mma start eating more!” Sarah’s lit up with enthusiasm

In a completely random act, Sarah dragged them into the water of this extremely large tub. You could hear the water smack up against the marble walls from the impact.

As Arachnia emerged she quickly splashed water on Sarah. Starting an endless water fight continuously splashing back and forth until the bathroom was covered.

“What are you two doing?” Verona was confused as she sat on the ledge of the bath slowly washing her hair now.

“Oh right, you’ve probably never tried this,” Sarah noted as she briefly thought about verona's past. She was determined to explain. “It’s called having a water fight! The purpose is to splash as much water at the other people playing. It’s all just for fun! Give it a try!”

Sarah immediately followed up by splashing water at Verona.

Verona still wasn’t able to grasp the concept, but she attempted to give it a try. Using all her might, she placed her hands deep under the bathwater. With a strong motion of her hands, she created a tidal wave in the tub, which collided with Sarah and Arachnia. They were violently swung into the wall behind them and tumbled back down as the water settled. As they regained their footing from almost drowning, they began to laugh.

“That was a little too much strength,” Arachnia told Verona. Verona didn’t quite understand, but she did enjoy the idea. They all continued for a few minutes longer.

As the guys waited around the couch, they were talking.

“How long are they planning to be in there?” Victor whined as he sunk into the cushion of the couch.

“I mean, since they’re helping Sarah with her hair,” Landon began to chuckle at Victor’s oncoming response. “It’ll be at least 3 hours… And that’s if they leave it alone.”

“Aw, hell no! There’s got to be another shower! I need a bath and a moment to relax!”

“All we’ve been doing is relaxing so far,” Landon reminded Victor. Then they watched Odrian walk toward the bathroom. “Odrian, don’t do it!”

“It’s not worth it!” Victor added.

“What? It sounds fun in there,” Odrian wrapped a towel around his waist and then removed his ring, making all his clothes disappear. “I want in!”

“Hey, I bet you he’ll be fine,” Victor looked at Landon after making his wager.

“You’re on!” Landon agreed as he placed his own. “I think he’ll be kicked out by Sarah.”

They both steer at the bathroom door intensely

I just gotta play it cool and walk in like everything is normal, Odrian thought to himself, mustering the courage to proceed. I’ve got this.

Odrian quickly opened the door and hopped in the tub as his mind went blank. He practically ignored the sight of Arachnia and Verona. Sarah wasn’t even factored into the setting.

Out of sight, out of mind.

“Oh? You need help washing your hair too?” Verona asked him with enthusiasm.

“W-what do you think you’re doing?” Arachnia covered herself in embarrassment with a white towel that was on the edge of the tub.

“It’s quite obvious,” Sarah threw water at Odrian’s face consistently to blur his vision. “He just came in here to see us naked!”

“Yeah, no one came here for you, Sarah,” Odrian’s voice was literally drowned out by water.

“I don’t see a problem with it,” Verona opined, much to Sarah’s disgust. “I don’t mind, at least.”

“Oh, speak for yourself!” Arachnia decried Verona’s rather liberal stance.

“Thanks,” Odrian seemingly teleported behind Verona, grinning over her shoulders at Sarah. “I knew you’d have my back!”

Considering her prudish stance, Arachnia could ruin the progress she made with Odrian. She swallowed her pride, and went over to him, holding one of his hands and acknowledged:

“Well, he already saw us. I mean, he did save us earlier. This is the least we can do to reward him.”

“You mean, Odrian and I saved everyone earlier?” Sarah found Verona and Arachnia’s train of thought troubling. “Fine! You win! He can stay! Whatever. I want no part of this!”

“I wholeheartedly agree!” Odrian smirked victoriously. Sarah crossed her arms in an unprecedented defeat.

“Whatever… It’s not like you didn’t pull these kinds of stunts while growing up!”

Meanwhile, Landon and Victor kept their eyes on the door, awaiting the sounds of chaos. To their surprise, it was relatively silent.

“It looks like I win,” Victor declared hesitantly as though he didn’t expect to win his bet.

“Wow,” Landon couldn’t help but say. “You didn’t even seem like you were confident in the wager you made.”

“Pfft, yeah, whatever,” Victor played off his confusion as he rubbed his hands in triumph. “Once we hit the city, you owe me dinner at the greatest of restaurants.”

“The jokes on you,” Landon laughed menacingly. “You never said what we would wage.”

Victor’s jaw dropped to his miscalculation. Not at any point did he state what he wanted before making their bet. Therefore his demands were nullified after the fact.

“Aw… No, you can’t weasel your way out of this!” Victor disagreed. “I won, so you owe me something, right?”

“Oh yeah, I acknowledge you as the victor to this bet,” Landon walked over to the fridge in the kitchen to get something to drink.

“And then you try to use my name in a pun?”

“...” Landon stayed silent and like out a slight smirk to his remark as he guzzled down some form of drink he found while search through the fridge labeled mist cola. “Not bad”

Within an hour, Odrian and the girls finished showering, allowing Victor and Landon to use the bathroom. To save time, Sarah's left her hair out to dry, curling down her waist. However, upon Odrian’s insistence, they braided his hair since he’d look weird with an afro that resembled Jheri curls and the back of his hair extremely long compared to the rest.

It wasn’t long before Landon and Victor were done and ready to head out.

“Man, I’m going to miss this place already,” Odrian expressed.

“Right,” Sarah quietly interjected. “You’re just happy about your whole moment.”

They descended spiral steps that led directly to the lobby, where they found Sabrina and Ziggy talking to the clerk.

“You’re all up… Finally,” Sabrina greeted them with a warm smile. “I hope you enjoyed the room we got. It was top of the line. We thought you kids needed a reward.”

“My poor bank account,” Ziggy muttered to himself. Sabrina was able to hear him, so she “accidentally” stepped on his toe.

“We loved it,” Arachnia spoke up with high spirits.

“Wow, someone gained a voice,” Victor sarcastically added. “It must’ve been the shower.”

Arachnia couldn’t but blush. Thinking back to a moment in the shower where her hand touched something it wasn’t supposed to confusing it for a Loofah.

“So, what happened in the shower?” Sabrina asked them as their surroundings became deathly silent. Everyone felt the ominous presence as Sabrina stood there, holding her smile. The deceit ran deep as her anger slowly built. Odrian quickly rushed toward the entrance.

“Come on, Victor, why?” Odrian panicked while waiting for the sliding doors to fully open. Before he could attempt to flee any further, Sabrina grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.

“What did I tell you all about ‘No Kids?’” Sabrina looked upon Odrian judgmentally.

“Nothing happened, I promise!” Odrian squealed. Sabrina let go of his collar. Everyone was frozen in place as she walked toward them.

“Hmph, for someone that just tried to run away, you sure didn’t make it seem that way.” Landon said smiling at his little brother’s attempt to previously get away

“Oh, that’s my son,” Ziggy gushed, drawing Sabrina’s malicious glare. And with that glare, she shot down Ziggy’s enthusiasm as he acted correctly after that.

“What am I going to do with you all?” Sabrina sighed. They all hesitantly shared a laugh before setting out to Tilore, the Elven City of Lights.