Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc 7] Ch. 9 Empty Room

Sebas

"...Nyah this isn't-" Julie said as her blush deepened as she was unable to keep her eyes from looking down my back to my ass. A line of blood began to trail from her nose.

She was interrupted by someone screaming, "MY EYES! Why is there a dude over there!?" said some guy with his hands over his eyes peeking over the tall bamboo wall separating the baths. Several more voices from boys complained and it seemed like they were stacked on each other shoulders to peek into the woman's bath.

Instinct took over and I scooped the water in my hand. It swirled into a snowball as I cocked my arm and as the boy over the wall moved his hands away from his face, the next thing he saw was the snowball as it hit him right between the eyes. It had enough force to knock the tower of perverts off balance until they all toppled over back wards into the water. Speaking of perverts...

As the girls behind her whooped in triumph, I glared at Julie.

I whispered the fake spell to transform into a swirling whirlwind of fire. The same one I used in that duel with the rankers to hide in the dragon's fire. In one swift movement I grabbed my towel. Since Julie was the closest to me, I solidified in front of her to put something between me and the rest of the girls since I spotted my sister in the mix. I stared Julie down when I reappeared in front of her. That way I was able to hold her gaze as I wrapped the towel around my waist.

Just long enough to cover myself before her eyes scrolled down my body until she caught herself and forced herself to look back at my face.

"You aren't doing a very good job of proving you aren't a pervert," I emphasized my point as I tightened the knot in the towel with an exaggerated tug. Then I lightly shoulder checked her as I walked past and tried really REALLY hard not to think about how soft her shoulder was. I stormed through the crowd of girls who were shamelessly staring as they parted for me and made my way to pick up my clothes.

Minerva's red hair caught my attention, but I didn't see Angela anywhere. Minerva had just taken her top off and was covering her upper half with a frantically grabbed towel. She blushed fearfully as I walked up to her and if I hadn't noticed the basket with all my clothes was missing then I may have noticed how vulnerably cute she was.

"If I find out Angela has anything to do with this, it's coming out of your wallet and her hide." I hissed.

*

The only thing that I could do was be angry. It's not my favorite technique but as a strategy, if I accuse the person at the desk and the hotel of a misdeed then I wouldn't be viewed as the pervert who snuck into the girls' bath.

I shouted at the poor man at the counter and demanded to see his manager. When a fox woman came out, I was calmed by the oddly appropriate scene of her in a colorful kimono. She had a robe brought for me as she invited me back into her office so that I would stop making a scene in full view.

I really shouldn't be making this so hard for her, but I express my many displeasures with her. I'll apologize and make it up to her later. She did her job very well and told me everything I wanted to hear. In the end I deliberated with her for about twenty minutes and secured some personally written coupons for a couple free nights in the luxury suites at a later date. I also decided she needed a freaking raise! She was amazing at her job. Maybe I should introduce the concept of paid time off?

When I exited the office with the manager, I saw Liz at the service desk with a basket. "I found this tucked under one of the benches at the end of the hall." She said pleasantly. Then she saw me, and her attitude soured. "Oh, it's you." She crossed her arms.

"Who else would I be?" I asked ironically.

She looked at me in the robe and then at the basket and clicked her tongue. "Tch, if I had known they were yours I would have thrown them in the sea."

"You're a real doll. You know that?" I respond and picked through the basket to make sure it was all there. After a moment, I realized Liz seemed to be waiting for something.

"Are you waiting for a reward or something?" I asked.

"No, but we need to talk after you're dressed." She hissed.

The manager gladly offered me her office and I changed into the spare set of clothes I packed into it. She then led us to one of the conference rooms that wasn't being used for our 'discussion' and promised that we wouldn't be disturbed.

"Okay, what is it?" I growled after I made sure no one was scrying us or going out of their way to listen in on our conversation. But the fox manager was good at her job and there was no one by the door.

"You need to stay away from Jekyll." She spat after we sat down at the long conference table.

"I can't do that." I responded.

"Then we have a problem." Liz crossed her arms.

"Oh, I'm sure we have more than one problem if you are approaching me in public like this." I crossed my arms.

Liz's scowl slipped into a smug grin. "Did you see anything good, master?" She let her tongue hang out coyly and wiggled her shoulders.

"Gahh..." I sighed as I wiped my face with my hand. "Of course it was you." I pointed my finger at my keeper. "You're supposed to be the mature one!"

"Mature doesn't mean boring. Actor was worried after we made our escape with your Jekyll copy." She teased. "Besides, you left the party in such a down mood. I thought I'd do something to shake things up and lift your spirits."

"I finally had a chance to relax." I sighed talking about the few moments of peace I had in the bath.

"Which is bad when you are alone because you think about unnecessary things, get depressed, and then run off to do something reckless." She rolled her eyes.

"Do not." I said with the weakest argument in the world.

She gave me a look and I backed down.

"I'm getting worried, master. When we found you the other day you had the look about you like you were going to just up and leave. If we hadn't found you..." Her playful tone changed into genuine worry.

I surrendered with a sigh. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize to me, master. If you disappeared on Lilith the way you disappeared on Minerva she'd have a break down. Without you, and left to her own devices, she'd probably give up on her dream and go back to killing just to numb the pain." She expressed.

"I've already-"

"Thought about it? How to leave us both behind like nothing more than a used scroll." Her red eyes glowed through the illusion spell.

"That's not what I meant." I deflated under barrage.

"That's your problem, master. You have back up plans for everything. But you ONLY have back up plans. Plans in case you have to leave, or someone leaves you. Plans to keep yourself from getting hurt, and plans to escape the pain. You're so busy trying to hold together some thing you think you have, you are coming apart at the seams as everyone moves on with their life." Liz held my gaze. "If nothing changes, everyone is going to move on and I'm not going to be strong enough to pick up the pieces."