It was had to explain what had happened in there but I got out of the situation without any problems. I felt that it was time to leave as they would start an investigation into how an indestructible room like that could fail.
I snuck out in the night and headed over to the Aquini Kingdom. It’s time to visit that spa! It was a lot of flying but it will be worth my time. Despite its remoteness, it seems to be the best one on the continent.
Something bothers me though. I looked at some reviews on the flyer.
“I can’t remember any faces from when I was there but my body and mind felt relaxed. I will go there till the day I die”
“All my pain and worries have been washed away after visiting the Floating Lotus. I think the staff was nice. I seem to be unable to recall but the messages were unreal! My old body feels like I’m in my prime again!”
The reviews have nothing but good things to say. The only recurring point is that they don’t seem to be able to recall anything about those working there.
I wonder… is charm magic at play here? Is the spa secretly terrible and all the customers get charmed to say good things? I should be fine against charm magic so trying it out won’t hurt.
It took nearly a month to arrive at the part of the jungle where the spa was supposed to be. I saw a path going through the jungle but it lead to nowhere. I spotted people walking the path. They seemed ready to go to a resort.
Illusions? This situation is getting fishier by the moment! I touched down in a part of the jungle near the end of the path. I got forcefully moved the moment I stepped foot on the path. It wasn’t a teleport. What’s going on? I found myself on the beginning of the trail and I couldn’t recall where I landed earlier. Is it to make the location uncertain?
My curiosity grew. I decided to follow the path. Everyone following this path seemed relaxed and happy. They must be regulars. At least being relaxed doesn’t seem to be a lie.
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I found out what their plan is. I was resting at the side of the path as I was exhausted. Why is this path so long?! I then came to a painful realization. My starting point wasn’t that far from me. Is my condition that terrible? I had only walked for 10 minutes and I was out of breath.
It took 5 rests before I reached a lake. It had a large pink building floating on it. It was shaped after a lotus. Or wait is it a lotus turned into a building? It is extremely hard to tell. The fragrance of lotus tickled my nose. I also saw something I didn’t expect. I saw jungle dragons land on top of it.
The more I paid attention, the more I realized that various races were coming to visit this place. The humans seemed to be quite in the minority. How strange.
The first step inside revealed a lot to me. the first thing I noticed was: Pink. There was pink everywhere even the staff seemed pink which brought me to the next thing that stuck out. All the staff were women with pink foxtails. Multiple fox tails.
“Wait… nine tailed spirit foxes?” I looked around confused. Weren’t they supposed to be nearly extinct? What are so many doing here? I paid more attention. “Clones? Or no illusions… that makes a lot of sense!”
I had seen the same woman pass by, over 5 times. There was diversity in the staff but there also seemed a lot of copies going around. This whole place might be one big illusion.
Suddenly everything made sense. Why nobody can remember the staff. The strange circumstances on how to get here. These mythical beauties were making sure nobody would find out about their identities. I would probably forget about them the moment I step out of range.
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I looked around in awe. So this is what the Agnis’ race can do. Does he know about this place? Probably not. He had been stuck in Boshi town for the last 5 years.
“Excuse me, how can I help you? Are you new here? I love your hair!” A young woman… Young is actually deceptive for the same reason calling me a young woman is deceptive. Who knows how long this woman has lived?
A pink-haired spirit fox addressed me. All the spirit foxes here had pink hair mixed with another color. This one also had blue and pink hair like me. Her pink fluffy tails distracted me from what she was saying.
“It seems this is your first time here. My name is Medea Mikazuki. Welcome to the Floating Lotus, which is run by my mother Neia Mikazuki. We have various programs for relaxation and entertainment.”
“I…I see. I’m sorry I didn't expect to find so many mythical beasts here…”
“That is normal. Happens to all our newcomers. Follow me, all newcomers get their first visit for free because we are certain that they will return.” Medea flashed a mischievous smile and her eyes glowed into a strange dark blue.
I was slightly aware of how these foxes behave. Charm magic was in the air. I do not doubt that anyone who steps in here will return until the day they die.
“Let’s start with a massage. I bet you’ve never had a tail massage from a spirit fox.” Medea led me into a small darkened room.
“Uhh, I don’t have a tail, will I be fine?”
“Don’t worry. We don’t massage tails, we massage with our tails. Veyle if you would be so kind? We have a newcomer.”
A petite woman was standing in the corner. Most of the staff here had great bodies like me, but this one was petite. It seems she made up for having enormous tails.
“Oh my gosh! They’re so fluffy! Can I touch?!” I yet again got distracted by fluffy tails.
“I will leave her to you.” Medea smiled again and left.
“My name is Veyle Mikazuki. I will prepare for your massage. You may touch my tails in the meantime, but a Misha, eh? We haven’t had one visit in over 400 years.”
I was cuddling the tails. “Oh excuse me if this is a rude question, but how old are you?” I buried my tails into the tails again.
“Oh me I’m just 31 years old. But we vixens are connected by our eyes and share information.” She pointed at her glowing eyes.
“Ah Elgards eyes.”
“Oh you know about it?” Veyle seemed excited.
“Yeah, I met one of your kind before. It had helped him a lot.”
“Him? A him? You found a male spirit fox?!” Veyle got overly excited.
“Uhh is that a big deal?” I felt as if I said something I shouldn’t have.
“Yes! Our race is mainly female. The males seemed to have vanished a long time ago! Do you know where he is?” Veyle had started the massage. “Oh sorry, I forgot my manners. I hope you don’t mind that I stripped you down to your underwear.”
I looked down. When did she do that? “I don’t mind. I didn’t even notice…”
“I’m sorry I got excited. Just relax.” The tails had the perfect combination of force and gentleness. Each of the 8 tails felt distinctly different. it felt as if my muscles turned into liquid and it didn’t take long for me to relax beyond what I’m used to as being ‘relaxed’.
“I don’t know where he is sorry. I saw him last in February near Boshi town.”
“Oh that’s fine, as long as he’s alive then that’s good. He will end up here eventually.” She added some massage oil.
I wanted to chat more and ask what she meant but the sudden relaxation made me drowsy.
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I woke up and was covered in blankets. They were soft and fluffy. I looked around. I got up but almost fell down. My body responded way better than I was used to and it threw me off. What magic is this? Or is this the true power of a massage?
It was as if Medea had been keeping an eye on me as she met up with me as I left the massage room after dressing myself.
“How was it?” Her eyes told me that she already knew the answer.
“It was amazing!”
Medea led me to a hot tub. After the hot tub, I went into a sauna. We moved over to get facials, exfoliation, and other skin treatments. I got my hair and nails done. They even braided my hair for me.
This was paradise! They had all types of food. All in all, it was the second-best day of my life. My best day was when I got set free but this easily takes second place.
It was possible to spend the night here but I had to decline. I will never leave this place if I do. It sounds like a good thing but it also sounds like a trap. Not a malicious trap but I won’t accomplish anything if I stay here. I wouldn’t expect anything less from this race, creating traps people would willingly walk into and want to stay in. I will accomplish my goals and then come back here!
I left the Floating Lotus with a heavy heart. The temptation to stay was too big. My heart was heavy but everything else felt light. I felt as if I could take on the world. I flew off and tried to recall my day In the Floating Lotus. I could remember that it was awesome but I couldn’t seem to remember anything about the staff. How odd.
I flew away through the night sky thinking to myself that I would probably remember when visiting the Floating Lotus another time. I agree with the reviews. I would probably keep coming to that place until I die.