by Ian Rodgers
“My, my, so forward and bold. A shame I am already married,” she teased, causing the half-orc to go red in embarrassment, Tilda to erupt with laughter, and Evelyn to hide a smile behind a hand.
“That’s not what…!”
“I know, dear, calm down,” Shally giggled. “It’s flattering, really.”
“So, what do you and your husband do that lets you afford a vacation here?” Dora asked, desperately trying to change the topic.
“The Gold-Squalls have been merchants for countless turns of the Great Moon, Miss Halfmoon. You have a lovely name, by the way. Anyways, food is our main item of trade. The mollusk fields of our home world are bountiful, and seafood is always in demand in the Aether. And one of our largest customers happens to be the Resort itself. We make a handsome profit dealing with Lady Dramhyda.”
“I shall have to try your local cuisine sometime,” Dora promised, and Shally’s tendrils wobbled in amusement.
“Please do. For your more… tender palate I would recommend Wild Gum Clams. They’re far less armored and poisonous to non-native species.”
“Unarmored and non-toxic clams sound delicious,” Dora said with a tiny smile.
Five minutes later, Yugulp appeared, briskly walking behind the same messenger shrimp they’d dispatched earlier, a small silk sack clutched tightly in his tendrils.
“Here, I hope this will be enough,” an anxious Yugulp said, dumping the gems Dora had requested into her hand.
The half-orc let out an ‘Oof!’ as the jewels dropped into her palms, their size and weight nearly causing her to drop them into the sand. She didn’t, thankfully, and together with Tilda and Evelyn gaped in shock at the size of the precious stones Yugulp had handed to her.
The diamond was the largest of the two, big as a boot, and curiously trapezoidal in shape. Dora was unsure how they’d cut it. It was bright and clear, and if not for a quick check with her magic, one might have mistaken the pure crystal for glass. As for the opal, it was the size of her fist, and carved into a cylindrical shape. The rainbow colors were bright and seemed to radiate off of the surface. Dora had a feeling she could cast Restore ten times in row with such high-quality stones!
‘Or perhaps you could bring back the dead with so much power,’ a traitorous voice whispered in the back of her head. ‘It couldn’t be too hard, right? Just rewind Time itself a little bit, and Scarrot can come back…’
Dora shook her head violently to clear the thoughts from her head. ‘No! I can’t do that! I won’t! He’s dead, and no magic can change that!’
“So, shall we get started?” she asked the Gold-Squalls, tearing her eyes and dark ideas away from the beautiful gems.
Yugulp’s tentacles flailed about madly, while Shally’s wiggled more sedately.
“Okay, then, here we go,” Dora said, placing the gems on the sand in front of the sapient sea anemone and placing her hands against Shally’s tube-like upper body.
“I do not fear death,” Dora intoned, the words of the chant stirring the magic within and without her. “‘I do not fear its embrace. I fear time. I fear failure. I fear not having lived a life worth living.”
Motes of pale light flaked off of the two precious stones, and joined the white energy surrounding Dora’s hands. “And it is this fear that drives me ever onwards. Do not despair! I am not judgement, merely justice. I am not hate, but love. Give everything and expect nothing. Life and Death dance together in the eternal song of Existence. Restore!”
With delicate and careful precision, Dora guided the potent magical energy through her patient’s body, directing it towards the wounded tendrils and stumps.
For a brief moment, time stopped. Then, under her control, it began to reverse. Scar tissue melted away under the purifying light, and muscles and flesh began to knit themselves back into existence as the wounds were rewritten.
Slowly but steadily the damaged and severed tentacles were restored. Shally was in some sort of trance as the spell fixed the injuries, allowing Dora to focus without worry. After five minutes, the last tendril was repaired back to how it’d been before the accident.
Dora ran a final check through Shally’s body, checking up on things and tweaking a couple bits and pieces with the leftover energy from the spell, healing a couple of aches and internal issues that were at worst minor irritations.
Satisfied that her patient was now as fine as the day before she got injured, Dora pulled away and let the magic fade. Time seemed to hiccup gently, and everyone watching blinked and shook themselves as the world restarted.
“Shally…” Yugulp hesitantly inquired, probing tendrils reaching out to her.
“Th-they’re back! Dear, my limbs are back!” she cheered happily, reaching out with her restored tentacles and entwining them around Yugulp’s.
“Thank you! Thank you, Miss Halfmoon!” Yugulp blubbered, tendrils flapping up and down in a bowing motions to express his gratitude.
“We’ll name our children after you!” Shally vowed.
Dora blushed and scratched the back of her head slightly. “Oh, there’s no need for that!”
“No! We must!” the Gold-Squalls insisted.
“Is there anything we can do for you? Money, resources, favors… anything you want!” Yugulp offered.
“I didn’t do this for wealth,” she protested.
“Please, at least keep the gems,” Shally requested, and Dora glanced down at the diamond and opal. They’d shrunk slightly, portions of the precious stones appearing to have melted off as they were used as additional fuel for the potent spell.
But there was still a great deal of matter left over. Enough for another eight or so Restore spells. Unable to deny them that, Dora agreed, and swept the two large gems over to her side.
‘Mental note, find a way to purchase new Bags of Holding to replace the ones we lost,’ Dora thought to herself. ‘Wait, actually…’
“There is something you could do for me,” Dora admitted to the rejoicing couple. “The luggage my friends and I had sort of… exploded when we arrived here. The packs and bags no longer possess the size expansion and weight reduction enchantments. Do you think you could acquire a few large Bags of Holding for me?”
“Is that all? Of course, that’s not a problem at all!” Yugulp assured her. “Are you sure you want nothing else?”
“I couldn’t possibly ask for anything else,” Dora replied, her Healer mentality pushing her to deny any further rewards.
“Holy… Dora, that was amazing!” Tilda exclaimed, awed by the display of power the half-orc had managed to put on.
“I agree, that was quite impressive,” a melodious voice hummed, and everyone turned to see Dramhyda walking towards their group.
“When I sensed an overwhelming and potent burst of Time Element magic on my property, I assumed it was my brother Ardvain coming to visit. Imagine my surprise when it’s not him, but rather a spell I’d thought lost for good,” the blue Exarch mused, tapping her chin in thought as her liquid hair wildly morphed into various shapes.
“Err, was I not supposed to cast spells here…?” Dora asked, trailing off nervously as she looked at the otherworldly being before her.
“Hmm? Oh, I don’t mind, especially if they’re healing spells. Hurt someone with magic, though, and we’ll have a problem. But thankfully we don’t have to deal with something unpleasant like that,” Dramhyda said cheerfully, dismissing the blonde half-orc’s worries.
“That’s nice,” Dora said, doing her best to keep her smile up as she shivered from the brief flash of power and killing intent the Exarch of Water had released at the mere thought of violence occurring in her domain.
Dramhyda ignored Dora after that and bent down to take a peek at the Healer’s handiwork. The watery woman examined Shally with her magic, and nodded in approval.
“Everything seems in order, Mrs. Gold-Squall. Miss Halfmoon did an extraordinary job,” Dramhyda praised.
“She was truly helpful! I never thought I’d be abl
e to entwine my tendrils with my lover properly again,” the sea foam green anemone said cheerfully.
“Perhaps you and your husband should go and celebrate. Perhaps privately in your room?” the Exarch suggested, and the two didn’t need any more prompting before they shot off back to the conch shell tower.
“Hang on… were some of the tendrils you healed her… reproductive organs? OH! So she… and then…” Tilda shivered and stuck her tongue out. “Gross! Oh, I don’t want to think about two tentacled creatures mating!”
“It’s your own fault for thinking too hard,” Evelyn chided her vampiric sister.
“Yeah, I was aware some of her tentacles were used for sex,” Dora said flatly. “I kind of have to know what the organs and limbs do when I heal them, else they won’t work properly. Shally explained their functions to me, and then I used that knowledge to fix her up. Simple as that.”
“For your first time healing a Amenomax, you did an incredible job,” Dramhyda stated, impressed with the young half-orc.
“Thank you, Lady Dramhyda,” Dora said, bowing her head towards the powerful entity. “By the way, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what is the situation with getting me back to Erafore? Did the deity who sent me and my friends here say anything?”
“In that regard, I have news,” the woman said, her hair shifting about rapidly.
“Good news?”
“News,” Dramhyda replied drily. “It seems you can’t go back to Erafore until you complete certain tasks for Nia. If you try, you’ll simply be shunted across dimensions so you end up in a different region of the Aether every time it happens.”
Dora stared at the Exarch, as did Tilda and Evelyn.
“Lady Nia? Are you saying that Nia, the goddess of love and maidens, is effectively holding me hostage until I do something for her?” the half-orc demanded incredulously.
“Basically, yes,” Dramhyda shrugged. “She said you should know what to do, though. Has she given you any dreams or hints?”
The green-skinned Healer bit her lower lip in annoyance as her mind ran through the ‘instructions’ the goddess had passed on to her at times.
“‘Find the opal that walks,’” Dora murmured. “That was one of the tasks she gave me.”
“What about my friends, though? Can Ain and Enrai go back to Erafore?” she inquired of Dramhyda after thinking things over.
“Oh, they can, if they so wish. Nothing is holding them back,” the Exarch replied.
“I see. I’ll have to ask them about this later. What exactly are they up to right now?” Dora asked.
Dramhyda looked off into the distance, a slightly glazed look in her eyes. “Your Monk friend is hitting on every remotely humanoid female at the moment. He doesn’t seem to be having much luck, though. Your Spellsword is getting a lot of attention, though. His feminine looks are attractive to quite a number of ladies. Doesn’t seem comfortable with it, however.”
“Yeah, Ain only has eyes for the side-kick of a murderer,” Dora sighed in disappointment.
“Now that sounds like juicy gossip!” Tilda said, smiling widely.
“You know about Bane the Butcher?” Dora asked, and the vampire’s smile fell away into a grimace.
“Ugh, him! Yeah, I know that acid spitting murder-mule. Worked with him once. Never again!”
“Well, he has a partner. She’s a Saludan Sword Dancer who is extremely beautiful. Thing is, Ain has no idea she’s actually working with Bane. Enrai and I know, though,” Dora explained with a shake of her head. “Things get worse – or weirder, depending on your perspective - when you know that Ain has a serious hatred for Bane, though as far as I can tell, Bane doesn’t even remember the person he killed that caused Ain to despise him so much.”
“Certainly sounds like a mess,” Tilda said with a sigh. “Not surprised about the Bane bit, though. He picks up enemies like they’re spare coins, and treats ‘em about as well. Plus the whole ‘cultist of Vandalore’ thing means he’s killed more people in his lifetime than a freaking plague. I wouldn’t mess with him, because I know he’s stronger and crueler than me, but that doesn’t stop some people from having a death wish.”
“All this talk of death is getting rather unpleasant,” Dramhyda said. Her tone seemed off-hand and cheery, but a layer of steel and reprimand hid beneath the surface, and both Dora and Tilda snapped their mouths shut for fear of angering the Exarch further.
As they stayed silent and fearful, the powerful entity of water tapped her chin. “You know, as impressive as your display was, there were a few parts that could use polishing.”
“How so, my lady?” Dora asked politely.
“Some of your treatment was rushed, and a few techniques you used were outdated. Overall you did fine, and accomplished what you set out to do, but it was akin to using a sword to carve a statue, rather than a chisel.”
“Are you offering to teach me?” Dora inquired, excitement bubbling up in her chest.
“I am. For a day, I shall impart to you a portion of the wisdom I have accumulated over the eons,” Dramhyda stated, bobbing her head, while her hair coiled itself up into a tight bun, as one might see on a stern, straight laced teacher or librarian.
“Not this day, though, but tomorrow, so enjoy your time with your friends,” she informed the half-orc, who beamed with excitement.
Dramhyda then walked back towards the hotel, likely to get teaching materials ready. In her wake she left a nearly hyperventilating half-orc Healer all but exploding with excitement.
“Whoa, calm down, girl!” Tilda cautioned her. “You might pop a blood vessel, or five!”
“Sorry, it’s just that besides my mother and a couple of old tomes, I never really had a lot of Healer training. I’m basically self-taught at this point,” Dora explained.
“Be that as it may, you still have…” Tilda trailed off, glancing back towards the green sun on the horizon, “a lot of time before you have to get ready. Remember, a day here is seventy hours, rather than the twenty-seven we have back on Erafore.”
“Oh, right, yeah, I guess I should calm down,” Dora chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Sorry, got a bit excited! Was there anything else you two wanted to do today?”
“Meh, not really. Why don’t you pick the next activity?” Tilda said after exchanging glances with her older sister. Evelyn nodded in agreement with the idea.
“Yes, there are so many different things to try. I think you definitely should pick something for us to do.”
Dora tapped her chin in thought. “I suppose I could do that… I don’t really know exactly what’s available, though.”
“I have a brochure,” Evelyn said with a smile, removing a thick pamphlet seemingly from nowhere.
The Healer stared at the miniature book in the grey-haired woman’s hand for a moment, blinking in confusion at its sudden appearance, before accepting it and flipping through the pages.
“Hmm, this looks interesting…” Dora mused, tapping a finger against a certain entry.
“What the heck is a ‘Fruit Bath?’” Tilda wondered.
“Maybe they cover us in fruit pulp and juices?” Evelyn guessed.
“Or maybe they hollow out giant coconuts and use the shells as bathtubs,” Dora suggested. The three women looked at each other and smiled.
“It seems to have pretty good reviews and reception” Dora noted. “Shall we see what all the fuss is about and try it ourselves?”
“Yes, lets!” Tilda cheered.
Chapter 4: To learn
Both Evelyn and Dora turned out to be right in their assumptions of what exactly a Fruit Bath would entail.
A giant mantis shrimp wearing a bowler hat had taken down three absurdly large coconuts from an equally massive tree, and split them open with a single stroke of its bladed claws. Then, it had used its flashing blades to dice up a dozen different alien fruits, their juice and pulp mingling with the coconut’s milk.
Into this exotic bath the trio did slide, each of them taking a
shell for themselves. There must have been magic in some of the chopped-up fruits because Dora felt her skin and hair become silky soft and smooth after only a few minutes of lounging lazily within the concoction. It was simply divine!
“Oh, yeah, this feels great!” Dora mumbled, sinking into the creamy mixture. Somehow, the liquids weren’t sticky, and slid off the body extremely easily.
Nearby, Tilda childishly splashed about in her coconut shell bathtub, giggling to herself. She enjoyed the sheer whimsy and ridiculousness of the bath far more than its therapeutic effects. Evelyn was far more elegant and refined in her relaxation, simply lying there with closed eyes and a smile. Of course, even she couldn’t resist playfully flicking pieces of fruit at her eternally youthful sister whenever Tilda got too rowdy.
All in all, though, it was a pleasant break in the usual rowdiness of her life.
Sadly, all good things come to an end. In this case, it was when their session’s time was up. A quick rinse to get any lingering fruity bits off, and Dora felt refreshed in a way she hadn’t in a long time. She sighed happily to herself as she stared out at the glittering ocean just a short walk away.
Unbidden, a smirk crossed her face as she spotted two familiar figures down by the beach. One was clutching his foot and whimpering while hopping up and down on his uninjured leg, while the other was shaking his head and admonishing the former. In the distance an elegant pink skinned woman huffed imperiously and stalked away, leaving the men in the dust.
‘Looks like Enrai and Ain are having fun,’ Dora thought to herself with a chuckle.
Making up her mind, she approached them, sauntering over with a knowing grin on her face. “Hey you two. Having fun? Enrai, are you trying out a new dance?”
“Oh, hey, Dora,” Enrai said, ceasing his mad hopping. His swim trunks were bright orange, almost painfully so. His naked upper torso was well muscled and developing a nice tan somehow, despite the green sun not actually being capable of such things. And for the first time, Dora was able to see the spiraling tattoos that decorated his body. She’d known he’d had them, but he rarely disrobed around her, and so far she’d only seen the tattoos on his bald head.
