"You've…" I frowned. "Seen my world?"
Rivi froze and her eyes widened like a dear caught in the headlights. "Uh, hahaha," she opened and closed her mouth a couple times. "That is to say, uh…I'm feeling really dizzy, got to go, bye!" She got up suddenly from the bath and practically ran out of the room, sliding a little on the wet ground and almost falling as she went.
"Wait! Rivi!" I called after her. "Where are you going?"
She disappeared into the changing room, and I was left all alone in the bath.
She's seen my world? That was the only way to explain her reaction just now, that, and that it seemed to be a secret that she wasn't supposed to share with me. I suppose if she has a close connection to Melphinoe… I didn't really think about it before, but the gods must have some way of seeing or interacting with our world or else they wouldn't have been able to summon us here…I frowned. Was it possible that Melphinoe had a way back to my world?
And if she did, would I want it? Without magic would my body just crumble as an undead there? But even if it didn't I was a girl now, how was I supposed to face my family? Or the rest of the world for that matter? I shivered. Plus didn't I have elf ears now? The whole thing felt unfeasible even if there was a portal open right now. But then what did I want? She had asked me that too, but I still didn't have a clear answer for myself.
I was frustrated. Frustrated about being a girl and being embarrassed and weak all the time. Frustrated about being at the whims of the gods with all their power and secrets. And frustrated about feeling out of control in my own body, the changes the Crimson Wraith was enacting within me, which I was struggling to tell apart from my own impulses or desires. How much was me and how much was the beast? It felt impossible to know.
I got up from the bath, frowning with concentration, as I got out and started drying myself. She's seen my world, huh? Well I guess that makes all the cultural stuff from our world make sense—from the Japanese architecture to the western-style fashion to the game-like system interface. I wonder how long they've been watching…From the architecture of this town it doesn't seem like a short amount of time. These buildings don't seem to have been built recently.
I got back to the changing room and frowned when I looked at the cubby with my clothing. All the clothes I'd brought with me were dirty now, especially the undergarments which I'd probably been wearing for at least a day or two. I looked around and sighed, eventually slipping on one of the courtesy yukata's, though I felt bare and exposed underneath the robes without any undergarments.
We just got back from shopping…why does it feel like I need to go shopping again? I shook my head and stepped out into the lobby.
I looked around, but Rivi was still nowhere to be seen. "Um…Excuse me." I went up to one of the attendants at the front desk. "Do you know where Mistress Rivi went?"
"No, sorry." she shook her head. "Unfortunately we don't. All I know is that she rushed out a few minutes ago and ran out towards the street."
"I see," I frowned but still inclined my head respectfully. "Thank you very much. By the way, do I need to…pay or anything?"
"No," she smiled. "Because you're currently Mistress Riviera's guest, all expenses are covered, so you're all set."
"Thanks." I gave a polite smile, and then began walking back out towards the street. Did accidentally sharing that secret really shake her all that bad? It doesn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of things…
I stepped back out onto the street and looked around, but Rivi was still nowhere to be seen. Isn't Rufi still here as well? I looked back at the bathhouse. What am I supposed to do now? Settle down and wait for her somewhere? I'd been taking Rivi's company and decisive decision-making for granted, but now that I was alone again I felt rather adrift.
I guess I'll go get Rufi…I turned back to the bathhouse with a sigh. Was I really so much of a child that I couldn't figure out my own things to do without someone else deciding for me? I'd literally just met Rivi so why did time without her already feel so…empty?
"Excuse me, sorry," I went back to the front desk person. "I was told that my, um…" calling her a pet felt weird, but I didn't know what else to say. "pet Rufi is in the pet baths, could you possibly check to see if she's done?"
"Of course, right away," She gave another polite smile, then disappeared into a back room. I stood there for a while, twiddling my fingers on the desk as I waited for her to come back. At last after a few more minutes she reappeared.
"Rufi's currently in a pet playroom, would you like to join her for a while, or would you like me to go fetch her for you?"
A pet playroom, huh…Man this bathhouse really has it all. "Are there other pets there, or is it just Rufi?"
"Uh, let me see…" She looked at a paper in her hands. "It looks like there's a Stone Lion cub in there as well, quite tame and friendly from the report."
"Oh, uh, yeah, then I'll go and see them. Might as well, since I'm here."
"Very well, then follow me."
The attendant led me up two flights of stairs and down a couple corridors before we reached our destination.
"Here we are," the attendant gestured to the closed sliding door. "Will you be needing anything else?"
"No, that's it, thank you."
She bowed and left.
I watched her for a few seconds then refocused on the door in front of me, my mind still distracted with thoughts of Rivi. Shaking them away for a moment, I pulled open the door. "Rufi? You in here?"
I walked in only to see a blue-haired girl kneeling on the ground startle violently, dropping the toy she held in her hand as she spun towards me.