"Where are we?"
Thalia muttered before the mountain’s shadow closed around her, the sheer mass of rock swallowing her presence. She staggered a half-step, unbalanced by the damp chill, before catching herself on a nearby stone.
She looked up, lips parted in silent awe.
They stood inside a yawning hollow carved into the mountain’s side, as if the heart of the world itself had been torn open.
Thalia noticed soone had carved into the mountain and created this space. She stared at the rough-hewn beams, piles of wood and rocks scattered.
What’s more, the area around them was kind of misty, a thin vapour that made her hair cling in damp strands to her face.
Thalia gave a confused look at Aether, her brow furrowed. "You took to a ruin? What is this, Aether—your secret lair? Are you hiding sothing in these stones?"
Aether grinned, running his hand through hair dampened by the mountain’s breath.
"If only it were that dramatic," he said, shaking his head. "No, it’s nothing that dark. Co on, this is my own project. The place I’ve been building. It’s still under construction, so be careful. Don’t step on the loose stones."
"You’re building?" Thalia blinked, truly puzzled. She tilted her head, "You? Since when did you start building things for yourself? There’s got to be so hidden reason. You never do anything without a sche, do you?"
Aether smirked, a flicker of mischief in his gaze. He led her forward, stepping over a loose plank and gesturing grandly past a half-ford archway.
"Co on, let show you my beautiful work. Just... sothing I wanted to make with my own hands, for once."
Thalia really got excited about this. The excitent curled through her as she reached out, and Aether slowly took her hand.
Inside the mountain, everything was built... the stony clean walls rising high, polished, the open spaces of rooms.
"You have a room too?" Thalia whispered, half in wonder, half in suspicion. "When did you do all of this?" She muttered with a surprised expression.
The room beyond was little more than a rectangular cavity lined with polished stone slabs, the seams between them gaping in places. Two benches crouched near the wall, one missing a leg, the other shored up with a stack of old blueprints.
Aether didn’t stop there. He just kept going as he led her deeper inside.
The narrow corridor was filled with warm lights that flickered to life the mont you stepped inside. Soft orbs of luminescence floated near the ceiling, glinting off stony walls where faded paintings had been pasted, glimpses of forests, rivers, and creatures of myth.
Thalia’s eyes widened, "Where are you taking —" Her words caught in her throat, her footsteps halting as the passage widened and the air changed.
It was completely, utterly different, as if she had walked through a seam in reality.
She stepped forward, her body tense with awe. She saw a mountain hovering before her, not dead rock, but alive, volcanic.
Even though it was night, the lava pouring from its peak was a river of living fire, spilling down the slopes in molten ribbons. The dangerous red glow bathed the whole valley in an otherworldly light. The lava wound gently around the mountain, like a red serpent coiling around a sleeping titan.
The heat shimred, clashing with the night’s cold. Down below, the river waited, black and wild, catching the falling lava with a furious hiss. Steam exploded where lava t water, sending hot mist billowing around the base of the mountain... mist that glead red, orange, blue, weaving through the stones like a living spirit.
Thalia drew in a breath, her heart racing. "It’s... it’s beautiful," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I’ve never seen anything like this."
As she stepped forward to see even more clearly through the mist, when,
"Oops!" Aether caught her by the arm before she could go any further, "Careful, my lady. You shouldn’t just walk in... especially not with clothes." He pointed down, his expression half warning, half playful.
Thalia blinked and followed his gaze downward. She saw it... a small, natural spring where steaming hot water leaked and curled upward, the mist swirling around her ankles.
Massive stones and smooth, curved rocks ford a basin, their dark surfaces shining with droplets, all arranged in a perfect ring as if so ancient hand had designed this secret pool to trap the wild, hot steam.
Thalia blankly looked at Aether, who wore the biggest, most smug grin she had ever seen.
"Welco to Aether’s Hot Spring~" he announced, as if he were unveiling a treasure of the gods.
Thalia blinked, then shook her head with a wide, disbelieving smile. "When did... fuck, how did you even find this place? Did you just stumble on it?"
Aether shrugged, that teasing glint in his eyes. "Luck~ Or maybe the spirits of the mountain wanted to have it. Either way, it’s mine now."
"My ass!" Thalia shot back with a playful scoff and a small smile, her gaze sliding over the view... jagged cliffs, the pulsing glow of lava behind the stones, the silver haze of mist.
She looked down at the hot steam curling off the water. "Damn..." She clenched her fist, excitent and disbelief warring on her face.
"I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life. Not in all my travels. You—how are you so lucky to find a place like this?"
How was Aether so lucky to find one!
"Did you take a bath here?" Thalia asked, her curiosity burning through her awe. "Does anyone else know about this place?" She stared at the swirling hot water, her body already itching to sink into its heat, almost feeling the energy that seed to co straight from the mountain’s molten heart.
Aether shook his head, "No, I haven’t used it yet. And... only Lyirrs knows about this. She helped carve into the mountain, but even she hasn’t seen the spring in its full glory."
"I see," Thalia smirked, "So I’m the first to set foot in here?"
Aether smiled, "Well, of course, my lady~" He caught her hand, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.
[ 8000 AP]
[ 8000 AP]
[ 8000 AP]
[ 8000 AP]
[ 8000 AP]
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"But before you enter, you’d better take everything off~ We wouldn’t want your clothes ruined by the steam, right?"
Thalia stared at him, heat rising in her cheeks as she caught the gleam in his eyes... a wildness, a hunger barely held in check.
She smirked, a small blush staining her face, and without breaking eye contact, began to slowly undress. Her movents were slow and deliberate, every motion sensual and bold, stripping away her clothes with no trace of sha.
Until nothing was left but her bare skin, glowing in the steam... white skin, proud nipples standing taut in the cool air, a small red-trimd bush above her core. She moved with languid grace, almost gliding as she stepped forward, her bare feet whispering over the smooth stones. With a glance over her shoulder, playful and daring, she slipped into the steaming water.
Aether licked his lips, his gaze lingering on the curve of her hips, the sway of her ass, every line of her body inviting him closer, daring him. It was as if she was summoning him to claim her, right there, right now.
For a heartbeat, he nearly lost all control. But then he flinched, "G-Give a mont," before he turned and hurried out, his footsteps echoing in the stone corridor.
Thalia blinked in surprise, then turned back and saw him disappearing. Her face flashed with a brief fury before she let out a snort and dove into the hot spring, the water closing around her in a cloud of steam.
"Hmmm~" She moaned, the sound deep and satisfied as the heat enveloped her. Her skin shimred, every inch glowing in the ethereal light, the water fresh and scalding from the heart of the lava flows above.
She humd, eyes closing, before whipping her drenched hair back and slowly leaning onto a smooth rock at the edge of the pool.
"Hiss!" she gasped as her bare back touched the rock—it was icy cold, the opposite of the molten water lapping at her front.
She was surprised by the sharp contrast; her back chilled, her front pulsing with volcanic heat—a strange, blissful balance that left her calm, loose, and almost dreamily sleepy.
"Fuck... where the heck is he finding all this... soooo good" as she muttered softly, her body trembled; the heat seeped deep into her muscles until everything she carried today lted in re seconds.
Her breathing steadied, her mind cald down... thinking of nothing but this hot, steamy water as she slowly looked up at the starry sky.
"It’s gorgeous... sotis he really does pick the best places," she muttered with an amused tone, her skin almost flickering with faint reddish golden flas.
Her body felt weird... hot!
Not the heat she felt from the spring—but inwardly.
A hot feeling... sothing itching deeply between her legs. The Phoenix mark on her chest glowed gently, pulsing with a faint warmth as the itch sharpened, "Hmm..." she humd with a slight frown as her fingers slowly slid between her legs, reacting almost instinctively to that burning tug.
anwhile, Aether, who was standing outside the mountain, frowned as he picked up an orb from the storage and looked at the ssage from Rosavere:
^I have already made the arrangents for your requirent. Co to my office as soon as possible^
Aether clenched the orb. This was fast... way too fast!!
Contacting one of his puppets, ’Oi, I told you to inform the mont she moves, right? What the fuck have you been doing there?’
anwhile, in the Zephyra Empire, near the Rosavere Company, a cloaked figure hovered on top of the building while holding a pair of binoculars in his hand as he muttered,
"Forgive , Master, but Rosavere didn’t co out of the office."
’What?’
"Yes, Master. I’ve been here watching her all day, and she has not left the office since you left," he said in a serious tone while holding the binocular up to the company, watching it like a hawk guarding a nest.
Aether’s frown deepened, ’Haven’t left since then? What the... then how did she do this?’ he thought.
Did he miss sothing?
After telling her about the crystal, he knew she would need to contact whoever she got the gun from, so he left his puppet to watch her.
’Has anyone weird entered the company?’ Aether asked.
The puppet shook its head. "No, Master. I recorded everyone’s face, and none of them seem related to the Void Empire..."
Aether humd with a confused expression before inwardly saying, ’Continue to watch her,’ as he disconnected his connection and muttered, "What are you really hiding, Rosavere?" His tone dropped cold.
Aether took a breath before calming himself and walking back. As much as he wanted to visit Rosavere and deal with her right now, he should not focus on others... His wives were his priority!
While walking, he was already removing his clothes. He threw his shirt on the corridor, pants on the window, and underwear on the rock before entering it.
"Thali—" he blinked when he saw... an empty place?
"Thalia?" He frowned as he called her na, his voice echoing faintly off the stone walls.
Did she leave him?
"Fuck! I shouldn’t have gone out—" before he could finish his words, two curved peaches popped out from the water and slowly floated on it.
Bubblleee...
Those curved peaches... those bubbles... that’s definitely...
"THALIA!"
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