The Code of Our Alliance

6: In the Bathhouse

Tekka, Rune, Loki, Harrow, Aegis, and two others, Cecilia and Zutara, all come along. Aegis and I walk in the back of the group, and she glances around anxiously as we approach the bathhouse.

"You ready for this?" Aegis whispers.

I nod, but I'm not sure I am. I do want to get this over with, but I can't help but be nervous. I don't know what undoing a Reset is going to be. Is it going to hurt? Is it going to harm someone else, or just me? I mean, BiOAS said that Aegis and I had a link, much like the one I have with Orothos. So, does that mean that it's going to hurt him and her when it happens?

And if Orothos feels my pain, and I feel his, will he feel this?

The eight of us stop in front of the bathhouse, and Loki and Rune both head to wait for us, most likely to guard the door. So, the rest of us head inside.

Aegis stops in front of the warm, steaming water. She turns to me, as if she's ready to help me take off my clothes. I watch her, but she doesn't make another move. The girl who is likely going to be in my head soon just stands there, hands at her sides, holding onto her gray pants as if that is keeping her from reaching for me.

I head over behind a curtain, slipping out of my clothes. But I don't know these girls. I don't want to strip and show them my body. I glance around before deciding that one of the nearby bras and underwear on a table must be the new ones I'll put on after I'm done bathing. Also, as I pick it up, I find another pair. So, I tuck it with the rest of my new clothes. Slipping on the new underwear and bra, I head to the warm water.

But when I step into the bathhouse proper, the steam rising all around me, I realize all of the girls who came in with me are in the water, and half aren't wearing anything. I chew my lip, then head into the water, walking down the slight slope that takes me into the warm bliss.

My black hair floats around me on the surface of the warm water, and I sigh deeply, feeling as though the tension in my body just fades. I glance over at Aegis, who's still talking with Tekka.

Cecilia wades over to me. The girl is short and curvy, with her curly white hair floating out around her in an opal halo, purple eyes aglow. Her warm, brown skin has some soap on her arms, and the girl is obviously taking advantage of the rare warmth in here.

Harrow wades over to us, then. She's got curly red hair, and her alabaster skin is flushed red from the warmth. Amber eyes flick between me and Cecilia, and Harrow nods to Cecilia.

"What?" I ask them both.

"You sure about this?" Harrow asks. "I haven't seen this kinda thing done before, but I've heard of it." Shuddering, Harrow rubs her arms. "I heard it hurts."

"More so than the pain of not knowing your own life? Not knowing your loved ones?" I ask, tilting my head.

"She's got a point," murmurs Cecilia.

Zutara pops her head out of the water. She's tall, skinny, and her short red hair is plastered to her tan face, water dripping from her bangs and into a pair of electric green eyes. Zutara glances to the door, then back to us.

"I've made shields around this place," she says in a thickly accented voice. "Loki and Rune are also protected, too."

"Thanks," says Harrow. "Wouldn't want those idiot guards stumbling into this."

"Also soundproofed it. We don't want to be spied on" she says. She winks at Cecilia, and I feel a bit unsettled by her. Zutara slides into the water again, swimming to the deeper end of the pool.

That's when Tekka and Aegis come over to us.

"Alright, we ready?" asks Tekka, rubbing her hands together.

"I am, are you?" asks Aegis, as she stares at me.

"Yeah," I say, smiling a little. "I'm ready to remember."

"Good," says Tekka. "Let's begin."