Ying
Now that everyone was safe and accounted for, it was agreed that they could, without guilt, enjoy the expansive suite they were in. Adelfried made Jim and Ying take the master bedroom. He said that since he had dragged them to the other side of the planet in his quest to get home it was the least he could do. And Ying didn’t disagree. While all rooms were lavishly decorated, the master bedroom was especially swanky and situated on the very tip of the pyramid, featuring a complete wraparound view of the surrounding area.
According to a pamphlet found in a bedroom nightstand, they were situated in the Valley of the Kings, complete with views of the Nile River and Cairo. The pyramid was apparently lost to history until an entrepreneur found it right after World War I and converted it into a hotel for the ESH elite of the day, which also, apparently spurred the Egyptomania of the 1920s.
----------------------------------------
The next morning, they were woken by the smell of fresh coffee and baked goods. In the main room an extravagant spread of fresh fruit, every pastry imaginable, and an assortment of breakfast meats had been laid out. The aroma was intoxicating. Ying’s mouth filled with saliva.
Adelfried shook his head. “All of this for three people?”
Ying sauntered up to the buffet and started to check out her options. “Four, don’t forget Mister Tears in the other room.”
“This almost makes up for nearly getting killed yesterday.” Jim said, comfortable on the couch with a fresh cup of coffee, a biscuit and a couple links of sausage. Spread out around his breakfast were a selection of newspapers from around the world including Uncle Bob’s Daily News, which was blank, probably because it was written in the same ink as the menu from the club, which meant only Adelfried could read it.
She made sure to check every item available on the buffet because she didn’t want to miss anything, but there were too many amazing things to consider. She had to be strategic. She only had limited space in her stomach, and you only get to eat from a magical buffet for the first time, once in your life. She passed several recognizable types of fruits, opting for selections she was sure were not available to the wider public. Were these grown with ESH? It didn’t matter, those would be her focus.
She picked up a bright azure blue cube with a white stem from a plate with a placard that read ‘Cerulean Fruit’. A quick sniff registered something close to a blueberry and mango hybrid. She put it on her plate before moving to the next one which had orange plum-sized star shaped fruits labeled ‘Orange Kiss’. She couldn’t wait and took a bite. Honey, apples, and sunshine morphed into a single flavor. She chomped at the firm fruit feverishly as juice gushed down her cheeks.
“Mmm, this is amazing. It tastes like exotic apple pie.” She tossed one at Jim hitting his arm as he studied the papers “Try that, oh my god, so good.”
“A little warning, next time?” Jim set the fruit down on the table in front of him, unimpressed. He wasn’t going to try it. He was so unadventurous sometimes.
“Should someone get Federico?” Adelfried was now moving in on the baked good section of the buffet which consisted of croissants, doughnuts, Danishes and bagels. “This really is too much for four people, this food will go bad.”
“Welcome to our millennia.” Ying replied, slipping a single glowing doughnut on to her plate, and quickly burying it under fruit like her mother was going to see her eating it and chastise her. Old habits die hard. Calories don’t count in magic hotels, right? “And as for Mr. Tears, we probably should have just left him, don’t you think someone would have taken care of him?”
“Sorry, not sure what the etiquette is for crazy crying mages.” Jim took a sip of his coffee. “Oh, that’s good right there. Do you think he… you know, bathes on his own?”
Jim was too righteous sometimes. Probably why Ying loved him so much. “I don’t know, but that’s all you. As far as I am concerned, he’s your responsibility.”
“So, what? We should have just left him?”
“Well, maybe, there is some type of crazy wizard protective services that could have come and taken care of him.” Ying sat down with her huge plate of fruit, solitary doughnut, and a glass of pink juice she snagged on her way to the table.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Jim turned the page on his newspaper. “Great, give me their number and I’ll give’em a call.”
----------------------------------------
After breakfast, Ying decided that finding a way home could wait a few hours and that the most critical next step was to explore the aquatic level, considering she and Jim had never stayed in a magical suite with such a thing, let alone even heard of a suite with such a thing. After locating the spiral staircase, they made their way down revealing a vast room even bigger than the main level of the suite. This made sense since every level they went down in the pyramid would have a bigger footprint than the one above it. Somehow the translucent walls of the room let in the desert sun covering the white tiled floor with a warm glow. There were five pools of different colors scattered across the room under a disc of water that hung in the air magically. Coming off the disc was a channel of water that seemed to wind its way around the entire room like a serpent twisting between pools on the ground and through the air.
“Evan would love this,” Jim said, taking it all in.
Ying breathed in the refreshing sandalwood scented air. “Why do you think the pools have different colors?”
“Let’s find out,” Jim said, eagerly climbing down the stairs. After checking the pools, they discovered the red pool was simply a hot tub, the blue, a cold soak pool, and the white, a standard pool. This left only the green and purple pool to test.
Jim dipped his foot in the purple pool for a few seconds. “Weird kind of a tingly feel,” he said, rubbing his foot. “Oh, it’s like an exfoliating bath or something. My foot feels super soft.”
Ying was now in front of the green pool eyeing it suspiciously. “Any guesses?”
“Nope, but it’s your turn.”
There was something abnormal about the hue of green that didn’t feel right. “I don’t know, it looks weird.”
“You’ll drink out of an anteater’s snout without hesitation, but putting your foot into a pool with green water makes you squeamish?”
“What if it’s toxic?”
“Do you really think the high roller suite would have a toxic pool? You’re so weird.” Jim chortled. “Sometimes, I don’t get you.”
“The anteater was a cup with a drink in it, but this is my skin we’re talking about.” Ying gave the back of her hand a gentle rub. Was there a new wrinkle forming? “You have to be careful what you do to your skin you know.”
Jim rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, what is it with you and Kae? You’re both so neurotic about your skin.”
“What can I say? She’s a smart girl.”
“Oh, smart, but not trustworthy?” Frustration leaked out of his voice.
“You know what teenagers are like, do you trust her?”
“She might bend the truth on occasion, and dodge responsibility like a ninja, but when it comes to what really matters, yeah, I do trust her. She gets good grades, doesn’t do drugs, I mean I think we are doing pretty good. Her biggest offense is pushing your buttons, and even that she excels at.” Jim added a wry smile.
“Oh, and it’s okay that she lied to me and snuck off to Kyle’s?”
Jim shrugged. “Eh…I mean she stopped by her boyfriend’s house, hardly a criminal offense.” He kneeled to get a closer look at the purple pool. “And look, it’s been months now, and she’s not pregnant. So yeah, I trust her, you should try it sometime.”
“Not that I have a choice now.”
Jim shook his head as he stood up. He narrowed his eyes. When he spoke, there was an edge in his voice. “Well…if someone hadn’t decided it was more important to shake their butt at a magical dance club, one of us might be home right now.”
His words stung. The truth stung. She started to wring her hands. If she hadn’t overruled him—like she always did—they wouldn’t be in this predicament. “I…” She didn’t have a snappy comeback.
“I told you we should have never gotten involved in any of this this, let alone go off to some risky adventure, now look at us.”
“I…how was I supposed to know any of this would happen?”
“Because I told you it was risky, but you didn’t listen. You never do.”
Her throat tightened as it hit her, she was scared more than she had realized. She was scared for Kae and Evan. She had no idea how they were getting home, especially with the Sovs hunting them. She struggled to get the words out as remorse seemed to drown her. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for all of this. You were…” She wrapped her arms around him. For a moment there was safety in his embrace. His hands gently caressed the back of her head as if he were pulling her up for a kiss, but it didn’t come.
She opened her eyes to find his lips mere inches from hers.
He said, “You were about to say it, go ahead.”
“Say what?”
“You know.”
“Wait, seriously?” Her arms loosed around him.
“Yep!”
“Fine!” She pulled her head away from his grip, no way was she looking him in the eye for this. Her voice was quiet. “You were right.”
“I’m sorry.” Jim said, leaning in closer. “I couldn’t hear you. Can you say that a little louder?”
“No!”
“So be it.” He shoved her mercilessly into the green pool.
“Asshole!” she yelled, arms flailing as she fell backwards. Instead of hitting water, there was the faintest presence of a heavy gas. Or was it a soft liquid? Her fall slowed as the mysterious substance dragged against her body before gently bouncing off the padded bottom of the pool and coming up to the surface. It was a beautiful and perfect moment ruined by Jim’s maniacal laughter.
“You should have seen your face,” he was struggling to get the words out. “That was amazing!” She tried to splash him with the green substance, but it was like pushing your hand through thick air.
Jim strode off. “Come on, let’s go see if we can find some swim trunks, I need to try out the magic floating river.”