Eva was in the mood to completely relax that day. Last week had been hectic with all the jobs she had been doing one after the other. Eva actually wanted to forget about making money and just have fun for one whole day. At least, that was what she was thinking when she sat in her room looking through the various famous shops and attractions in Magnolia. She had a bulk of pamphlets in her hand and scattered all across her bed as she planned out a whole fun day on a planner book she always brought with her wherever she went. With a glittery bluish silver ink, she rounded all the events she wanted to attend on the pamphlets before transferring them in a neat timetable into her planner. She was stubborn about the idea of it being perfect after all the trouble she had to go through.

Placing her planner beside her pillow, Eva reached to put the pamphlets away when one of them fell on the bed. She placed the rest of the pamphlets on the small table beside her bed and clicked her tongue in irritation. She picked up the red and black pamphlet with every intention of putting it away when something caught her eyes. It was actually the advertisement for Magnolia bathhouse. Eva wasn’t ignorant to the famous bathhouse in Magnolia that almost everyone she met raved about. In fact, she vaguely remembered the inn owner suggesting the place when Eva was talking to her about what to do in Magnolia. Of course, Eva must have been eating plums because she completely forgot about that incident.

Interested, she brought the pamphlet up to her face to read the fine details underneath all the big font, took the planner back and noted it down as well. The bathhouse was going to be her last place to visit to relax after all the fun she was going to have in Magnolia. She neatly folded the pamphlet and tucked it in between her planner before placing it down beside her pillow once again. With a pleased sigh, she too fell back into a deep slumber where all she dreamed about was shopping, food and theme parks. Well, the idea of fun was that important to her at that point.

The clock struck six O’ clock in the morning when Eva stirred in her sleep. A small but persistent beeping noise filled the small room, stubbornly getting louder by each passing second until a hand came up from under the blankets to slam down on the alarm clock. Golden streams of sunlight peeked through the curtains, falling on Eva’s eyes and they scrunched up in reflex before Eva stubbornly rolled around to the other side. It wasn’t until her hands accidentally fell on the planner beside her did she shoot up from her bed. Half groggy and half excited, Eva blinked her eyes several times until they shed the hazy layer and everything came into full view. She had things to do

504/2000

Magnolia had the best shops for casual clothes, Eva noted. Standing in front of a mirror in one of the best shops in Magnolia, Eva’s eyes lingered intently on the cream off-shoulder top and a ruffled skirk a few shades darker than the color of the top. She turned, twisted, spun around, closely watched by the smiling shop assistant. Behind the smile, however, Eva had a feeling that she was being hated. Well, if Eva was in her shoes and had to deal with a customer that tried on clothes left and right only to throw them away and be picky to the core, she would hate her too. But alas, Eva held the authority to choose what she wanted and that’s exactly what she did.

Eva discarded the cream colored outfit among a rather big pile of other clothes before going through a rather expensive rack to find a baby blue turtleneck top and a white pleated skirt. She decided to pair it up with a white laced shrug and white high heeled shoes. To be fair, Eva loved the way the blues and whites made the color of her hair and eyes pop. She ran a hand through her hair with a thoughtful look and hopped off to the accessories side of the shop. It took her a full five minutes, much to the irritation of the shop assistant that had to follow her, to pick out a baby blue floral barrette and twist her hair up in a side updo with a few curls left loose to frame her heart shaped face.

Eva swore that she heard the assistant sigh when she checked out of the shop after deciding to wear her chosen outfit for the day. She waited for the woman to swipe her card on the machine, punched in her pin number and she was a proud owner of a beautiful outfit. She went straight to a café after that to spent some time relaxing after going to the park and taking a stroll through the summer beauty of it, buying a lunch set from a shop nearby to have a small picnic. For the reminder of the day, she went around the town, avoiding at all cost, the request board that stood daringly to the center of the town.

When Eva arrived at the bathhouse, her much anticipated place in the schedule, it was already evening with the sky painted in a mix of red and gold hue. Eva was just about to leave her footwear outside to switch with a pair of the slippers they provided when she heard a frustrated scream that made her wince and cover her ears with a jump. “GET ME SOMEONE TO FIX THIS MESS NOW!” she heard a sound that greatly reminded her of someone grating their nails over a blackboard. And, if Eva never realized of a system inside her head that alerted of danger, she was hearing it in its loudest at that moment.
1002/2000

Eva couldn’t believe her luck. Sitting in front of an uptight lady that she just knew was much older than she looked, Eva greatly tried to refuse the urge to rage and destroy everything she saw in sight. What Eva was expecting when she arrived in that famous bathhouse was a relaxing time spent submerged in the warm waters. She didn’t remember signing up for dealing with some peeping tom that Bella Missandra, the woman in front of her, was complaining nonstop about.

“You are a mage, aren’t you?” she exasperated, slamming a hand down on the wooden table in between them. Eva stared blankly at the hand and then at the woman. “I’m sorry but I don’t see why I should be roped into doing this,” she replied after forcing a small curve on her lips. “As I said! You’re a mage, aren’t you?” she repeated, staring Eva down with a cold glare which Eva took without even a tiny twitch of her muscles. Finally, the woman sighed in defeat. “Alright, I get it. Tell you what, if you deal with this problem for me, I’ll let you in one of the most special, almost a secret, bath in this bathhouse. It’s a bath that will greatly improve the flow and depth of your mana that only the top exclusive customers get to take,” the woman offered. Now she was talking. If it was for something like that, Eva wouldn’t mind dealing with some kid with strange hobbies. “You got yourself a deal, madam. Lead me to the women’s bath, will you?” she agreed with a beaming smile.

Inside the bath, Eva simply took a seat on one of the stones and crossed her long legs over another. She leaned back, resting her weight on a slightly bigger stone behind her. The style in which the bath was constructed reminded her of one of the hot springs, only this bath included some herbs that would help in relaxing one’s muscles. She wasn’t sure how to compare the two. This one was more basic than the hot springs? Anyhow, she simply sat there with the same clothes that she had bought from the shop a few hours ago. She experimented with different poses as she waited, shamelessly exposing some skin of her thighs as she did so.

“Damn it! When will you take them all off and where are the other chicks?!” she heard a voice behind one of the bright red curtains. Aha! There he was. Eva smiled charmingly as she turned to face the side she heard the voice from. “Why don’t you come out and I’ll show you something much better?” she asked with a sinful curve of her lips. Eva only heard an audible gulp before a pair of feet came into her view. A blue haired man that looked much younger than he looked came to her vision. He had this deer caught in headlights look as his eyes moved between her and the door.
1502/2000

Eva had to act faster when she sent a sharp cutting wind up the peeping Tom, throwing him back as she took the time to block his path. “Oh you aren’t going anywhere soon,” she taunted, letting the contract open and her powers to flow. The man-boy looked absolutely terrified as he looked around the room for another way to escape. “Y-you, I didn’t do anything wrong! Why are you doing th-this?” he stuttered and Eva raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t do anything? I don’t know about you but in general, hiding inside the women’s section of a bathhouse to peek at them is a crime, my dear,” she replied with a finger on her lips in a thoughtful manner. He visibly flinched but stubbornly shook his head. “I didn’t do anything!”

He lunched forward with his right hand making a fist at Eva. With a light click of her tongue, Eva evaded the attack to quickly get behind him and bring her right foot up to kick him between his legs. She heard him howl in pain as he went down and wasted no time and kicking him around his ribcage to shut his movement down. By the time she was finished, Bella came running in with a look of shock and a few guards behind her. She looked at her, then at the peeping tom, and then back at her again with wide, but impressed eyes. Eva only returned her gaze with a shrug as the guards dragged the unconscious man boy away.

“You were wonderful. Uhm, what was your name again?” she smiled a little sheepishly. ‘She was asking now…’ Eva sighed. “It’s Evangeline,” she replied and the woman brightened up. “Of course, Evangeline! If you’ll follow me, I believe I promised you a very special bath,” she said and walked out followed by a slightly excited Eva. The next bath they went to was two times bigger than the one she already saw. The water in this one was slightly sparling with a pale green hue. She saw Bella add something to the water which made the glow become brighter. The sparkles that burst over the surface of water like bubbles reminded her of fireflies as she took her time in changing out of her clothes and getting in with only a towel around her chest. She felt energized at the first step she took in the bath, and when she sunk in, the warm glowing bubbles had enveloped her. She felt her magic surge and flow within her with fervor.

“Please enjoy the bath to your heart’s content. I’ll leave your reward here with your clothes, Eva san,” she heard Bella say before she heard the rustle of a curtain. Eva sighed. Despite the end of her planned super fun day didn’t exactly go to her wish, it was still worth the trouble to actually get to use this almost magical bath. She wasn’t sure what Bella had used as herbs and she was sure she wouldn’t be getting this chance again. But, whatever, she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

2020/2000