Encounter #4
Athanatos awoke in midair, screaming. The door slammed shut behind him before he landed on the polished stone floor and slid. The monk crashed into wooden furniture, sending chairs flying and tables tipping. Glass exploded all around him into thousands of sharp shrapnel skittering around him.
The world was fuzzy and swayed as he tried to sit up. He groaned and fell back down, too out of it to even wince when he landed on a bunch of glass shards.
The imp saved him from giving in. It scared him to think he couldn't remember all the times he had already given in. Yet, he felt it deep in his soul. A growing desire... a longing for Meridiana's embrace. To kiss her lips instead of fighting her. His body reacted just thinking about it.
If he gave in again, he'd wake up in the bed surrounded by beautiful, seductive women. How many more times could he give in before he'd never want to leave that bed?
"Oh, my oh my, what have you done?"
Athan squinted at the high-pitched feminine voice. He could barely see. There were a few lit candles in the room. A blurry green woman ran towards him, her arms flailing around.
"You've ruined my dining hall!" When he didn't react, she reached down and slapped his face. "Hey mister, talking to you!"
Her small, green hand stung, leaving a mark, causing him to groan.
"You're naked and bloody! Where did you even come from?"
Athan's eyes fluttered as he tried to comprehend his situation. This woman was very upset, very green, and extremely beautiful. He looked at her and realized she was short too. She had long pointed ears, large violet doe eyes with long lashes, plump lips and sharp, deadly teeth.
"Are you daft?"
"Dizzy, w-what happened?" He stuttered and groaned as he felt all the aches and cuts on his body.
"You flew into my dinning hall and made a huge mess. That's what happened!"
"I'm sorry," he said scratching his head. She helped him sit up, brushing his skin clear of glass shards. "Someone threw me, I think."
The short green woman sighed and seemed to relax a little.
"Alright well, apology accepted. I'm Jotsi, I'll be cleaning up this horrid mess," she said with another deep sigh.
"I can hel..."
"You'll spread blood everywhere you mean... no you need to wash up. There's a washroom through that door," she pointed to a door with a sign. The sign showed a person diving into a fountain like pool with a big red circle around it, a red line cut through the picture. "Go clean yourself up while I attend to this. Then we'll get you some food and you can be on your merry way."
Athan looked at her confused. She wasn't going to... you know what he wasn't going to jinx it.
"Okay, thank you Jotsi, my name is Athanatos."
"Immortal huh?" She paused in thought, "beautiful name, now go, go clean up." Jotsi urged him off after helping him stand. She gave a knowing smile, glancing at his package and watched him go, angling her head, arching an eyebrow at his bare ass. His cheeks flexed with each painful step.
She surprised him by knowing the meaning of his name. He chuckled to himself. Funny when you think about it. His name meant immortal and then he was gifted immortality by a dragon. Or did he take up the name after being gifted with long life? He couldn't remember. This place has that affect. Things were difficult to remember.
"And don't come back naked!" She said, stifling her laughter. She though he was cute, in a clumsy human kinda way.
He winced with each step over the field of broken glass. Now that he stood, he could see the rest of the room. There were several tables, all made up with plates, silverware and glasses. Well at least the tables still standing, untouched by his grand entrance.
He noticed an unlit fireplace against the far wall. Next to it was the door to the kitchen. Athan felt bad for making a mess of the place. So far, he only met seductive temptresses, all out for his cock. Jotsi seemed nice and cute when she was angry. However, she didn't put any moves on him.
Maybe he could get the lay of the land from her when he got back? If he was really lucky maybe she'd help him escape. He better not upset her again just in case.
[[Into the washroom]]
Into the washroom
He stood in a smaller room with benches and togas hanging on hooks. It looked like a changing room. Another door on the far wall led into the washroom. Well, he didn't need to change.
When Athan walked through the washroom's door he paused in shock. When he thought of a washroom, he never imagined such a grand spectacle as this.
There were stalls on one end, each with their own door. A row of porcelain sinks on the other. That alone would have been new to Athan, but in between them... a large fountain bath with a marble sculpture of a strange woman. She had the upper body of a gorgeous, well endowed woman. She had starfishes covering her nipples. The strange part though was her lower half, a fish tail instead of legs.
Athan never saw anything of the like before. The woman held a pitcher, pouring water into the fountain beneath her.
He didn't know how to use the washroom since nothing like it existed on his world. It made him wonder how many worlds there were and how many had Meridiana been to. Why was she so interested in his?
With pained steps he made his way over to the fountain, leaving bloody footprints in his wake.
The water was surprisingly warm to the touch. He sat down on the edge and let his legs dangle over. Warm currents flowed around his feet.
"Well, the picture did show someone diving in." He thought out loud. Never once wondering what the red circle with a line through it meant. He pushed himself off the edge and sank into the fountain's warmth.
Underneath the water felt divine. Soothing, like a soft full body massage. He faintly felt a pair of hands caress his arms before lifting him up. He placed his feet on the bottom and rose from the water in a panic, expecting to see someone there. But he was still alone.
Did he imagine the hands?
The sculpture's flowing water was the only sound he could hear. It had a relaxing nature to it, like a waterfall, only calmer.
After looking around he let his paranoia go. No one else was there. Slowly he walked over to the sculpture. After admiring the woman's detailed carving, he looked down at a pedestal with a bar of soap laying upon it.
The pedestal had a warning label on it, "Don't Overuse."
What could that mean? Don't overuse the soap? Strange. He reached for the bar and gripped it with his wet hand. It quickly slipped out of his hand, flying up a foot before plummeting into the water.
He heard giggling echo around the room before the spot started to bubble. Athan tried to retrieve the bar but he couldn't see it through the spreading soap bubbles that were already raging like a volcano up into the air.
Athan quickly dove under, eyes held tightly shut. He searched around the bottom until he found the bar. He gently grabbed it with both hands and surfaced, covered in soapy foam.
The moment the bar left the water, it calmed down with an echoing sigh. It sounded like a disappointed whimper actually. He placed the bar back on the pedestal and looked around. The soapy volcano had sprayed all over the room. No surface was free of the foamy soap.
The once calm current began to pick up speed. Before long it threatened to sweep his feet out from under him. The sudsy water swirled around the fountain like a whirlpool. Then suddenly it stopped. Athan didn't know what to think. The water waved back and forth, sloshing as it slowly calmed.
Strangely he felt refreshed. With a quick inspection he realized his cuts were healed. It appeared he had just experienced his first self-bathing fountain.
He had honestly expected something bad to happen when he dropped the soap. Not wanting to linger he started for the fountain's edge. He had a nagging feeling that he had to get out, quickly.
The soapy foam made it difficult to move. It felt like the sudds were getting thicker with each step he took. The ceiling and walls were clear of soap now. When had that happened?
He pushed for a second and took a closer look. The foam was slowly receding back into the fountain. As more of the substance entered the water it got thicker.
Athan's heart sped up. He had lingered long enough. The suds were up to his pectoral muscles already. He hurried towards the edge, as fast as his legs could go. The soap felt like thick mud now, slowing his movements drastically. His legs were starting to burn with the exertion.
It honestly felt like within the soap several pairs of hands were gripping his ankles, upper thighs, and waist. They were forming as the soap returned to the water! He had to get out now!
Almost there, the suds were up to his neck now. He pushed until he felt the fountain's rim. It took all his effort to pull himself out of the water. However, the suds were clinging to him.
He looked down and there were soapy arms wrapped around him. More soap hands gripped his wrists and ankles.
[[Leap towards the door]]
Athan hesitated for a second too long. The arms and hands got a better grip on him and pulled back. He yelped in shock as he was flung backwards, splashing into the soapy water. The foam had risen to the sculpture's breasts, encasing the fountain's water like a dome.
[[Rise from the water]]
Leap towards the door
