“Oh no…” Ash froze, filled with dread.
“Yes,” Aura insisted.
“Did you lead me here on purpose!?”
“Ash, buddy… you stink.”
“I don’t want to…”
“You need to. You have to!”
“Please don’t make me,” Ash begged. “I’ll clean myself off in the bathroom sink even if it takes all night, I promise!”
“You make it seem like it’s the worst thing in the world! Is it really that awkward for a human to use a public bathhouse?”
The two boys stood outside North Hell’s premiere public bathhouse. The artificial sun was but a dim ball in an orange sky now. Lady Shiva dismissed them and excused herself almost immediately after the team emerged from the basement prison. She was fortunate enough to have her own private bathing quarters, however. Ash and Aura had understandably never seen the Royal Family’s private bath or been invited to use it.
This was Ash’s second visit to the bathhouse, and as a young adult from America he was less than comfortable with all the male nudity he encountered. The thought of returning to that awkwardness made him want to skip the shower, even if bathing was an essential part of everyday life.
Aura practically had to drag Ash through the front door to the bathhouse, or at least that’s how it felt to him. Inside, Aura was kind enough to pay for the trip. He tossed a few skorch coins down on the counter and winked at the female receptionist.
“Hope to see you in there,” he said with a charming smile and a playful wink.
“You can take my place if you want,” Ash offered the girl.
Aura pushed him toward the curtain that lead to the men’s locker room. Through the flimsy velvet cloth they entered into a world of cold, fleshy male nudity. Ash kept his eyes glued resolutely to the stone floor. He trusted Aura to lead him through the sea of various degrees of stripping and dressing men.
Aura stopped pulling when they arrived at some vacant lockers. Aura wasted no time in taking his jacket, shirt and shoes off but Ash stood frozen stiff. Aura dropped his pants so that he was standing in only his underwear and gauntlet. Ash managed to look up at last, unafraid of his friend’s near-nudity. He saw it almost every day at home, anyway.
“Our objective is to become strong enough to defeat the Prince of Hell,” said Aura, switching to a more business-like tone. He had to keep talking to get Ash moving. “That’s a lofty goal because Prince Darko is the strongest man in Hell. If we want to beat him we’re going to need to get a lot stronger. It’s going to take a long time. It’s going to take a lot of training. And most importantly, it’s going to take a lot of sweating. So if you don’t learn to get comfortable enough with seeing a couple of naked dudes every once in a while, you’re going to stink to Heaven by the time we’re that strong.”
Ash, who seemed to get Aura’s point, sighed deeply and pulled his dirty servant robe off. All he had underneath was a smelly tanktop and a pair of boxers that were too tight. Aura had already dropped trow and was shoving his clothing and gauntlet into his locker. He grabbed a couple of towels from a nearby bin and wrapped an extra one around his black hand.
“I’m going into the bath,” Aura said, wrapping himself in a towel. He threw another one over to Ash. “You coming or what?”
“Yeah, okay!” Ash said, hustling out of his clothes finally. “You were saying?”
Ash carried the filthy clothing with him since he needed to clean them off to wear home. With his towel tied tightly around his waist, he followed his friend through another door and into the bathroom. And what a bathroom it was! Twice as large as the pool area at Ash’s local YMCA on Earth, if the Y was filled with kiddy pools only. None of the baths were deeper than four feet. Just deep enough to sit in comfortably.
While his mission for the night was to become more comfortable with using the bathhouse, Ash still felt the best way to do that was to not look around too much. He kept his eyes on Aura’s shoulders as they marched across the room, dodging from side to side to avoid the various patrons. Some of them were even small children.
On one occasion a little boy actually ran into Ash’s leg and clung to him tightly. The little boy shouted something unintelligible while laughing, and Ash felt the dreaded awkwardness setting in again. He tried to gently dislodge the child but was unsuccessful until the boy’s father came along and convinced the child to let go. All the while Aura stood by trying to conceal a fit of laughter.
Finally at an opening for a bath with very few men inside, the boys stepped into the hot steamy water. Ash had to admit, as much as he hated how uncomfortable the atmosphere was at the bathhouse, the actual bath was well worth it. It was essentially like bathing in a freshwater hot tub, complete with jets! Ash wasn’t entirely sure how the jets were created though.
He pondered on that while Aura dropped to his knees and soaked himself, making sure to dip his head below the water and rinse his hair. He grabbed a nearby floating bucket and removed some shampoo-like paste, rubbing the goo all over himself with the towel that covered his death touch hand. He was practically clean by the time Ash finally stepped into the water.
His wounded right leg stung as he submerged it in the hot water and the boy silently cried out in pain. After a couple seconds it didn’t hurt so bad, and Ash bravely continued lowering his body. As he feared, quickly dropping his arms under the water, they too stung with pain. He knew it had to be done, or else his wounds might get infected. Ash soldiered through the pain, dipped himself in up to his neck. The steaming-hot water worked wonders on the boy’s body, and for once he felt completely relaxed.
“What kind of people do you think the rebels are, if they really exist?” asked Ash.
“Oh?” said Aura. “Thinking about asking if you can join them?”
“I guess it depends on what they want,” said Ash, trying to keep his voice low. He didn’t want any of the other people in the water to hear their conversation. “If all they want is to overthrow the King and Prince, that would actually work to our advantage. Maybe if we helped them, they’d even let us go back to Earth.”
“It’s definitely possible,” said Aura. “Maybe we can catch one without Shiva around and do our own little interrogation.”
“Shiva…” Ash looked down, feeling guilty. “I won’t help any rebels that want to hurt her, though. She may be part of the Royal Family, but she’s the first friend I ever made here.”
Their conversation was cut short by a rowdy group of middle-aged men joining them in the tub. Ash had to divert his eyes since none of the men had the courtesy to wear a towel. Aura dipped his head under the water and emerged to see Ash, still waiting with his head hovering above the water. The boy had a look on his face that suggested a disturbing thought had just dawned on him.
“What now?” Aura asked.
“I don’t want to stick my head under,” Ash said.
“Why not?”
“Because… it’s gross.”
“How so?”
“We’re all friggin’ naked! I don’t want to stick my head in the same water our junk is submerged in!”
Aura scooped out some more of the soapy-goo and then pushed the floating bucket towards Ash. Ash grabbed for the bucket, hoping to finally get a look (and smell) of Hell’s version of shampoo. While he was distracted contemplating what the ‘soap’ was made of, Aura chucked his handful of it. The gunk landed square in Ash’s face. He wiped it off with his hands while shouting in fits of anger until Aura jumped on him.
The two boys wrestled until Ash, blinded, slipped and toppled under the water. While he was under Aura kept one hand on his shoulder, holding his friend down while he rubbed soap in his hair with his toweled hand. When Ash finally started to throw serious punches, Aura finally released him and jumped back.
“Damn it, Aura!” Ash shouted between coughing and gasping for air. But Aura was already out of the bath by the time Ash could fully open his eyes. The boy saw his retreating friend ducking into the hall that led to the sauna
but decided to not pursue him. He’d been dunked under the water, and that was as far as he was willing to go during this excursion. Maybe next time he’d explore a little more, but for now he wanted to focus on washing his clothes and getting out of there.
Gaining confidence, Ash pushed himself away from the edge of the bath and glided backwards. He’d always been good at treading water on his back in the lake and finally felt relaxed. The pleasant moment of fine memories lasted just up until he floated headfirst into an old man butt. Ash immediately got up and left the bath.
Alright, this trip is ruined, thought Ash. Better luck next time! And screw washing the clothes, I’ll wear them home dirty!
He grabbed his pile of dirty servants clothing as he headed for the exit. His sopping wet towel dripped on the warm tile floor, which was surprisingly slippery. Ash was in too much of a hurry and becoming lightheaded from the steamy temperature. When a sudden pain shot through his injured leg, the boy stumbled and slipped in a puddle. He dropped face-first to the floor. The next thing Ash saw was a torrent of concerned nude men surrounding him to offer their help.
I hate this place so much, he thought.
Aura was on the move through the bathhouse. He made a point to steer clear of the sauna. He hated the idea of sitting in a cramped hot room with naked men and longed for the day when a bathhouse would incorporate a ‘mixed gender’ section. Instead the boy returned to the main lobby. The hall there separated the men’s side from the women’s side. Aura took a seat on a bench in the middle of the hall, staring at the wall that bordered the women’s bath.
Okay, here goes, Aura thought, holding his black hand up to his eyes. Let’s see what I can do. “Soul sight!”
The young man strained his eyes and for a moment they shone brightly and his death touching hand emitted a small electric current that jumped to his eyeballs. As a death toucher, Aura had realized at a young age that he could do many things that were not normal for a young devil. He had access to his own soul in ways that no one else could. Lately he had discovered that he could use this power for things other than death touching.
Soul sight was what he called the latest trick he’d been working on. By focusing his soul power into his eyes and directing his gaze towards the wall to the women’s bath, the pervy young man hoped to accomplish an amazing new talent: the ability to see a living person’s soul, even through walls.
Nothing happened at first. Then, slowly, smoky-looking shapes began to form in front of him. The apparitions all moved like people, and began to take the forms of their bodies. The cloudy people moved around and acted just like normal people in the bath. Normal women in the bath. Unfortunately, the souls were only roughly human in shape, and not at all revealing enough to please the boy. Aura blinked and discovered the ability worked even with his eyelids closed.
I’ve done it! I’ve mastered the ability to spy on people wherever and whenever I want! This is so awesome! The boy was so excited he couldn’t help chuckling maniacally to himself.
Unbeknownst to him the receptionist had been watching the entire time. She saw the boy sit down in the hall and glare at the wall for several minutes. The thing Aura was not aware of was that the face he made while doing so, which to an onlooker like the receptionist, appeared quite suspicious. Closing his eyes and chuckling to himself didn’t help his image any either. The receptionist considered sending someone over to have the weird boy removed.
Ash ended up in a pool with most of the men who’d picked him off the floor when he slipped. They all sat in a circle with their backs against the edge of the bath, and for the moment Ash had given up. He was unable to see any of the men’s bodies below the water anyway, so he felt like he could relax while his clothing soaked.
In all the shuffling around Ash took notice of the men’s various body scars and burns. These men had all at one point in their lives been involved in a demon attack, just like Ash had faced that morning. The boy looked down at his own scars and wondered if showing off their battle scars gave the men some common ground. Something that they could even bond over.
Maybe I will try that sauna, Ash thought, feeling less ashamed of his nudity.
He bid his new friends farewell and thanked them for helping him up. With his towel and soaking wet clothing in hand, Ash made his way toward the sauna. He disappeared through the door and avoided the hall where Aura sat peeping, finding his way to the sauna. He stepped inside fully prepared for what he might see.
To his luck, there was no one inside. The sauna was empty, or at least Ash thought it was. It was really too steamy to tell. Ash could barely see his hand when he held it in front of his face. He was about to call out but realized that would seem silly to anyone who might actually be inside. Instead he silently crept forward, making sure not to step on any hidden toes.
Feeling around with his arms in front of him, Ash found a wall. There was a wooden bench to sit on, so Ash took one last silent look around to see if he could get an idea of how large the sauna room was. The steam was too heavy to see all the walls, but he thought if anyone were in the room with him, he’d have heard them make a sound by now. The boy was certain he was alone.
Ash decided to relax and enjoy it, so he took a seat on the wooden bench. The wood felt soft and squishy on his bottom and he thought that was very odd. Only when he heard a guttural growl did the boy fully realize his mistake. He’d sat on a man. A very large man.
At once the flustered boy jumped up, shouting an incoherent apology.
An enormous flame burst suddenly, clearing a portion of the steam in the room. The flames came from the angry person, and in the split second the steam cleared Ash caught a glimpse of the man he now faced. It was someone he knew well.
Not you again…
Dunger, a huge muscular man Ash had fought before in his earlier romps through Hell, charged forward at the boy. The giant baldy grappled with the teen until Ash was tossed through the wall of the sauna. He rolled, climbed to his feet, and turned to run away. A smart move, except that he was too tired and in too much pain from his injuries to effectively evade his pursuer.
That, and he took off running in the direction of one of the baths. He plunged in without thinking about how stupid a move it was and only when he had made it to the middle of the pool did he stop to think about where he was. How would he fight waist-deep in water?
No time to think. Ash turned to see if Dunger was still after him. He barely turned around in time to see Dunger fly through the air and strike downward. Ash was only able to avoid the attack because of his training with Shiva. His dodging reflexes had become more alert than he ever thought possible.
Dunger’s fist connected with the floor of the pool, and not being a very sound structure, the whole bath caved in. Ash was caught in the resulting whirlpool and went down with the current. He splashed to a halt on a hard floor below, apparently in the bathhouse basement. Down here, men and women worked to keep fires burning hot under the bottoms of the baths.
The employees became very concerned, as they weren’t all that accustomed to customers breaking through the bottoms of the baths. They started shouting directions at one another, going through their emergency protocol. Ash wasn’t paying attention to them. He was more concerned about his own nudity again, having lost his towel. By a great stroke of luck, a wet towel came floating by. He didn’t care if it was used; he snatched it up and wrapped the towel around his waist.
Dunger was back on his feet, smiling and cracking his knuckles as he moved in on Ash. The ruffian stepped forward readying a small fireball in his hand. He held his arm forward, palm pointing at Ash, and fired. The ball of flame blasted forward at the boy, but it was slower than the fireballs Shiva conjured. Once again Ash knew he could evade. In just one fluid pivoting sidestep with his good leg, Ash formed a comparable fireball and returned fire at Dunger before the man even knew his own attack had missed.
The bathhouse employees continued to run around hectically trying to plug up the hole in
the bath but their attempts were slowly failing. More and more water was pouring down and before long that entire bath was drained. Now the employees set their sights on the two brawling strangers.
“You two! Stop fighting!”
“You’re not supposed to be down here!”
“Take it outside, right now!”
Ash realized that was probably the right move to make at the time, and while Dunger was still reeling from the fireball to his face, the teen took off for the nearest door. Employees waved him in the right direction while a couple of men moved in on Dunger. But the brute would not stop yet, and after coming to his senses again he resumed the chase.
Ash entered a stairwell and climbed to the top. The door deposited him in a hallway, and a nearby sign directed him to the exit. A smile spread across his face, feeling a moment of joy at the thought of his successful escape. He barreled out the exit unaware that it was an exit into a back alley. He immediately plowed into some garbage cans that belonged to the restaurant next door and toppled over.
There he sat in a pile of thrown out demon fast-food as Dunger stepped through the door. The giant man walked slowly, chuckling to himself about Ash’s situation.
“You really want to fight me that bad?” Ash said, picking a few strands of pasta out of his hair. “I’m injured, man! I can’t even fight right now!”
Dunger lit a retaliatory fireball in his hand anyway.
“You would…” Ash grumbled. In the tight alley his escape routes were limited. He could run towards Dunger, but that would be risky and likely not work out. If he turned around and ran, Dunger’s fireball would probably hit him anyway, unless he did a fancy dodge roll or something. Ash hesitated. That sounded painful what with his wounds.
Dunger pointed his flame at the boy. Just as Ash came up with an idea for a getaway, the idea became irrelevant. Dunger’s fireball shot forward. Ash stood. Then the mysterious mustachioed old man came back, stepping in front of the fireball with only a raised hand to defend himself. Ash was horrified for a split second as the fire wrapped around the old man, engulfing his upper body.
Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) Page 5
