HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

Relaxation

    "Right, this way, your Highness."
    The moment that Marine heard the voice of the spa attendant, she stood straight up, wrapping the towel tighter around her naked body as she stared at her outfit hanging up in front of her. She stopped just for a moment, staring at the outfit as thoughts began to flow through her mind.
    I hope Micheal loves the dress. She thought. God, I can't wait for the ball.
    "Your Highness?"
    The attendant's voice finally jarred Marine back to reality, and she turned around, pulling the towel tighter, trying to hide her form a little better.
    "Are you ready, your Highness?"
    Marine gave her a slow nod, along with a smile, even as her heart was pounding.
    "I uh, I've just never had a massage before."
    "Oh, I understand, your Highness. If there's anything, anything at all, that you need during the massage, just let us know, and we'll be sure to get it taken care of immediately."
    She nodded as the attendant led her through the door and down the hallway, past the other Atlanteans that were all getting the spa treatment that was coming for her. Most of them were wrapped up in the towels, getting massages, facials, and all other kinds of things that Marine had absolutely no clue about. Spas were common in the Trade Coalition and the Elven Dominion, but they were never really Marine's thing. She preferred to get down and dirty with the work aboard the ship, or party in the taverns with the rest of the pirates. For her entire life, she preferred to stay to more of the shadier parts of the towns, since it was a lot easier for her to manage, all because she knew how to act. But here, in Atlantis, there were no shadier parts of town. It was all advanced and very rich looking, and for her, she felt like a fish that was plucked out of the ocean and tossed aboard the deck of a ship, flopping around without a clue of what to do to get out of it. But now, as Micheal had fun wherever he was, she had decided to finally try out the spa and see if she had been missing out on anything at all.
    The attendant led her down one of the halls, then, opened up one of the spa doors, showing an absolutely beautiful room. The walls on every side were made out of stones, like a cobblestone wall, and in the middle of the back wall, there was a stream of hot, steamy water that was flowing out of a hole in the wall into a small divot in the floor, where it all pooled and steamed, filling the room with relaxing steam and heat. In the very middle of the room, there were two raised beds for massages, and Marine made her way over to it as the attendant put gloves on over her fish hands.
    "Just lay on one of the beds, remove however much of the towel you're comfortable with, and I'll be right with you."
    The attendant turned back around as she prepared herself, and Marine dropped the towel to right around her waist, leaving her breasts exposed as she laid belly down on the bed. As soon as she got herself comfortable, the attendant walked back over, and she placed her hands on Marine's shoulders, making little tingles of feeling shoot through her nerves.
    "If at all you begin to feel uncomfortable, just say so, and I'll stop immediately."
    She gave a slight nod, and, as soon as she did, the masseuse began to put pressure, in circular motions, on her shoulders, and she began to relax, thoroughly enjoying the massage. She massaged in circular motions all over her shoulders, then pressed her knuckles and the backs of her fingers against the muscles in her neck, and Marine pressed her face into the towel pillow that was set up at the end of the bed.
    "Mmmmmph." She moaned. "Ohhhh, I've been missing out on this."
    "You have?" The masseuse cooed.
    "Aye, I never have done this." She said as the muscles in her neck began relaxing.
    The masseuse kept up the small talk, just trying to make a little bit of conversation, but as she began to massage her shoulder and back neck muscles, Marine moaned into the towel again, breaking up the conversation.
    "I guess you're enjoying this?"
    "Aye. Like I've said, I never really have done this before."
    The masseuse gave her a giggle, and she moved her hands down to the middle of her back, still pressing in the large circular motions to relax and loosen her tight muscles. She moaned into the towel yet again, but suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and the attendant took her hands away and walked over to the door. Marine picked her head up and looked, and she saw that the attendant had the door cracked and was speaking in Atlantean to whoever was on the other side of the door, then, after just a moment, she turned back to Marine.
    "Your Highness, one of the guests here wanted to share the session with you. Is that okay?"
    "Oh um, aye that's fine. Who is it?"
    The attendant opened up the door a little bit more, and, to Marine's shock, Botan stood at the door, holding a towel over her muscular body as a notable blush came over her cheeks and nose.
    "Oh, hey Botan." She said, a little bit shocked that it was her. "Is everything okay?"
    "A-aye." She said. "Just wanted to see you."
    "See me?" Marine said. "We, uh, we haven't really talked much."
    "I know." Botan replied, laying down, on her stomach, on the bed as another of the attendants came into the room, holding a small jar of golden oil. "I just can't talk to anyone else, and something is really scaring me, Marine."
    She turned to the two attendants, who were still preparing for the oil massage phase, and her lion ears twitched yet again.
    "Can you guys just give us a minute or two alone?" She asked. "Please?"
    The two attendants turned around, and they both bowed and nodded their heads.
    "Of course, however long that you need, just call us back in when you're ready."
    Both of the attendants left the room and shut the heavy door behind them, and that left Marine and Botan, alone, both nearly naked, with only the sound of the rushing, hot water to break the awkward silence, and to drown out the sound of Marine's heart pounding in her chest.
    "Whats wrong?" Marine asked. "I know you didn't just want to see me, so what's wrong?"
    Botan sighed, and her white lions tail curled around one of her legs as she tried to get comfortable on the surface of the spa bed.
    "Its about Micheal. I think Gura is manipulating him." She said, keeping her voice extremely low so that the attendants outside didn't hear them.
    "What?" Marine said, her mood going from concerned to dead serious in a split second.
    "Its the way she's talking to him. I snooped on them talking before I fought in a Battle Dome, and she was trying to drive a wedge between Micheal and I." She said. "I tried to get here as fast as I could after they healed me in the Arena, but I couldn't even go to see Micheal or Amelia or any of the others. They blocked me off of them."
    "So that's why you came to see me?"
    "Exactly."
    "So, what do I have to do?"
    "Just keep your head low for the time being, we'll break a wedge between them soon enough." Botan said. "Trust me on that."
    She laid her head back on the towel, thoughts still racing through her mind as her heart pounded against the bed.
    I can't lose Micheal. She thought. I can't lose him. Not after all that we've been through. I'm so close to breaking this filthy curse, and this stupid goddess will NOT take that away from me.