IV

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Arc IV Chapter 26

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17th Ignis Solar 753 AAC

Aurora deployed her index finger to test the waters. Her nail punctured the liquid surface, and yet her arm was quick to retract her hand. The overall water temperature was improvable, to say the least. Ill suited for any pleasant bath. As expected, the water was cold, ice cold. Not that she had expected otherwise.

The river and its mighty stream brought the gelid water from afar, down from the highest mountains of the hinterland. On its long journey, the water witness the eternal ice of snow clad peaks and the arctic gusts of frigid mountain ranges. The water travelled far and long. Thus, it carried little warmth. In fact, the water was closer to the point of freezing than to a temperature she deemed even remotely acceptable.

Needless to say, she had no intention whatsoever of catching a cold, or freezing to death for the sake of having a bath. As it turned out, her attempts at bathing proved ill fated without an adequate source of heat to warm her water. She was now in possession of a giant wooden barrel filled to the brim with water and no fire at hand, which was a problem.

Aurora's gaze swept through the room. Her eyes scouring her surroundings, searching for a solution that didn't exist. Angelika was right when she highlighted her conspicuous lack of firewood, but firewood was not an option. Firewood was expensive, vastly exceeding her meagre purse and her financial resources, nor was she willing to carry piles of wood all the way up the stairs just to heat her bath. She and her doll had already laboured enough for today. She would gladly forego another major hauling operation. Far too many buckets had already had climbed far too many stairs.

Fortunately for her and her doll, not everything was lost yet. As everyone knew, where there was a little girl and her will, there must also be a way!

Checking her surroundings, Aurora turned her head left and right, left and right. The door was locked. The windows were closed. The room was empty. There was nobody else present besides her and her doll. She and her doll were alone with a bath full of ice water. Nobody was watching her, and she doubted that the walls in this day and age possessed eyes or ears.

Aurora turned to her doll, her loyal companion. “Are you thinking what I am?”

Her doll nodded. A girl and a doll, separated by the physical boundaries of reality, yet one mind. They were thinking the same. There was a most obvious solution to her current predicament.

Aurora grinned, her schemes and plans taking form and shape. Diving deep into the water, her hand braved once again the ice cold waves, but this time it was for a good purpose. Her lips started humming as her work proceeded. “♫ ♪♩♪ ♫ ♬ ♩♫ ~. ♫ ♪♩♪ ♫ ♬ ♩♫ ~. ♫ ♪♩♪ ♫ ♬ ♩♫ ~.”

Cold turned warm. The water ... Its temperature was rising. The sensation of cold faded, and the water's glacial breath yielded to steaming vapour. A fine white mist covered the whole room, its gentle humid touch saturating the air.

It was now time to take a bath. Aurora hugged her doll with a sense of accomplishment and pride. It was a moment when her being a fire mage proved to be a blessing in disguise. Even when her magical abilities merely served to heat a bath.

Her bare feet went first. The gentle touch of warm water caressed her naked skin, soothing her muscles and nerves from tip to toe. This was truly what she had needed. The warmth invaded her body, warming her from within. It was a dream, a sheer inexplicable joy. After such a long time, she was once again afforded the opportunity to enjoy a proper taste of civilisation. It was time to liberate herself from all the accumulated dirt and dust of the past days and weeks.

Cast adrift by the treacherous current soft fate, it had been over a month since she had set a foot in this unknown and enigmatic world. It was an alien world. It was a foreign world. So much was different, yet so much also felt similar, not to say familiar. The world was indeed a small place.

Maybe it was fate, maybe it was destiny, but she was granted the gift, the privilege, the honour of a second life. And already, she had met friend and foe alike. She had eluded the murderous bladed of her assassins. She had infiltrated a group of ignorant adventurers. She had fought an oversized wolf. She had faced an ancient demon of the past. She had even joined the ranks of the local adventurers’ guild. Much had happened this past month, and yet her path remained shrouded in impenetrable mystery.

Her shoulders and her head leaned against the wooden exterior of her barrel. Aurora's lips mustered a weak chuckle. What would the future hold for her? What would the future hold for Aurora von Schwarz? Only time would tell.

For the time being, however, all her worries, all her trouble, all her woes were gone, washed away by the joy of the moment. All of them were forgotten. All of them had vanished. Time itself stood still until the gears of reality resumed their march to crush her under their weight. But not yet. For the time being, even the gears of reality had come to a halt.

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Aurora adjusted her pillow and prepared her bed. It was time for her to sleep under the warm coverage of her blanket. Yet she dedicated her attention first to her most precious companion, her doll.

“Good night. Sleep well and have sweet dreams.” Her lips placed a gentle kiss on her doll's forehead before tucking her in besides her.

Her doll showed no reaction. Logically and rationally speaking, it was plainly absurd what she was doing. Her doll didn't live. Her care and love were both an exercise in futility, and yet she was doting on her. Her doll had truly grown on her. She was tucking her in and wishing her good night every day and night.

Aurora closed her eyes and gripped her blanket. Hypnos was quick to strike, taking her away into the lands of dream under the auspice of a waning moon. Midnight was approaching.

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