What followed was a half-hour spew from Nesrine's mouth, and Aloe failed to understand even a fraction of it, not even a sliver. The engineer talked too fast, and her concepts were too complicated that Aloe just remained there static on the sofa nodding from time to time. It wasn't until Nesrine stopped talking from sheer exhaustion that she stopped and made her out to think about the details.

  The head of engineering was disappointed that the Radiating Undergrowth died when Aloe had extirpated it from her flesh. Still, the engineer was also positively enthusiastic about trying the nutritional properties of the white mushroom. Nesrine promised that when she called Aloe back to her office she would have dozens of pots with the best soil prepared so this wouldn't happen again.

  The walk back to the imperial palace was a slow one. For the first time in ages, literal ones at that, Aloe felt tired. Perhaps it was that slip the previous night that had messed up her internal clock, but her exhaustion wasn't from her body at all, it was impossible to begin with. No, it was her mind that was exhausted. It had been for a long time, but these days had taken a toll on her being and thoughts, and this recent meeting with Nesrine was just the last drop.

  Her mind throbbed.

  She had never felt this stimulated in her life, and a part of her ached for those monotone days in darkness at the chasm back. Those were miserable days, but also silent, and there was some virtue in that.

  Naila owed her answers but for today… today she rested. Exhaustion threatened her like a dweller lunging on her, though that analogy didn't exactly work for her current self. It was more like she was heaving up a mountain, if not the whole world.

  Sleep, somehow, looked appetizing again.

  When she came back to Xochipilli, the boy continued to study with the help of their assigned maid, though now they were leisurely studying in the imperial gardens instead of the library. Only now did Aloe realize that she didn't know the maid's name, but at the same time, she couldn't be bothered to remember it if she were to ask.

  As the sun started to flee beyond the horizon and the night threatened to arrive, they moved back into the palace and they had dinner. One worthy of sultans, of course. With senses as enhanced as hers, the food felt lacking to Aloe. It was strange, especially considering these were meals prepared by the best of cooks, but at the same time, she couldn't even bother to worry about it. It wasn't like she had enjoyed food much in her life.

  The maid asked them if they wanted to bathe, but Aloe declined as she didn't want anyone to see her naked. Or rather, she was afraid of what would happen if someone did.

  "Why should someone gaze upon your nakedness during a bath?" The maid asked in confusion.

  "Are not the baths of the palace open to everyone? Last time I was here, that was the case, and unless you can empty them out only for us, they would see me." Aloe responded.

  She clearly remembered the bath pools of Asina. The ones in the palace of Sadina were big, but these ones were massive. Even bigger than the public baths of Sadina when only a fraction of the people used them at any given time.

  "No, no!" The mature maid raised her arms defensively in panic. "There are bathing pools, yes, but guest rooms like your own have private bathtubs."

  "Bath…tubs?" The bicentennial woman tilted her head to the side. "Regrettably I'm not familiar with the concept."

  "Oh… uhm… follow me?" The Pincerarean woman expressed herself poorly, but as she guided them to their room, everything became clear. Upon opening the door into the alcove, it revealed a room covered in tiles cool to the touch, not unlike those of the public baths. "Here is the lavatory. There is a toilet on the other side if you have not used it yet, but anyhow, there are only two components here: the sink and the tub. The sink is meant for surface-level washing like hands or face, whilst the tub is a full body washing experience."

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  The maid pointed at two containers of porcelain, one small one at navel height – or rather crotch for Aloe – and another big one on the ground that reached waist height.

  "How… fancy," Aloe stated in a distorted sense of amazement. It truly was disconcerting having a bath to themselves even if it was way smaller than the bathing pools she was used to, but mainly, because it wasn't one. "I cannot deny that the sight of this tub is weird. It does not feel Ydazi at all. Why not have a pool when the space is already there?"

  "I am afraid I do not have the answers to such questions, madame. But at least I can confirm that a tub is easier to maintain and way easier to fill up. Let me show you."

  The maid rolled up the sleeves of her uniform and pulled to the side one of the valves resting on top of the porcelain tub. As expected of the imperial palace, these valves and faucets – both of the tub and sink – were made out of solid gold. The moment she turned the valve, water poured from the faucet, but not any water. Steaming water.

  "Oh~" Aloe hummed with interest.

  "This valve is for cold water and the one I used for hot one," the maid explained as she touched the stream of flowing water and quickly removed it after letting out a yelp. Her hand was reddened, and she thrashed it a bit to calm the pain and cool it down. "The boiler is still rather strong this time of the day, so I would recommend putting cold water or letting the water rest a bit once the tub is full. Would you like to have a perfumed bath?"

  "Sure," the druid saw no problem as the expense wasn't coming out of her pocket.

  With an accommodating bow, the maid began to grab many products like oils, soaps, and whatnot and prepared the bath as the tub rapidly filled. Xochipilli, whilst had been silent all this still remained so, did a few laps around the bath and inspected the rising water level from the edge of the tub. He looked superbly adorable doing so. That adorability brought her a kernel of sanity.

  "Would you need help with the bathing?" The maid offered once she was done with the water. Aloe couldn't help but be surprised at the sheer amount of foam those substances created.

  "It will not be needed, consider yourself free of service until tomorrow."

  "As the madame wills it." With yet another bow, the maid removed herself from their room.

  "So," Aloe grabbed Xochipilli by the shoulders. "Do you want to bath together?"

  "Yesh!" The answer wasn't surprising at all.

  She had fallen asleep.

  After having bathed with Xochipilli, her skin warm and smelling like roses, it was hard not to feel sleepy. It didn't help that the child wanted to share the bed with her. And it was hard refusing such a petition.

  But instead of feeling dread, Aloe felt calm.

  Yet for some reason… that scared her.

  She felt calm, way too calm. There were many levels of inner peace, and Aloe was feeling the highest of them all. That was to say, she was feeling nothing. That was the level of her calmness, hellish.

  Oblivion.

  The ninth and last hell of Sulnaya was described as pure calmness and inertness. Stagnation as her father would have called it once upon a time. And Ydazi people feared calmness for a reason.

  Her eyes shot wide open.

  She was trembling.

  "Ah…" She let out a painful yelp, but her body was flooded with relaxation as she noticed that Xochipilli was still soundly sleeping and wasn't aware of her outburst. "This… this is wrong."

  The level of calmness she had felt was painful. That… nothingness. She loved staying still like a tree, but as Aleahilhahiba had said, even trees felt and communicated. There was virtue in staying still like a tree and just letting the sunlight caress you, but this…

  There was no comfort in Oblivion.

  Even though her eyes were open, she couldn't help but as if she was being swallowed by a stagnant darkness of tar and forgetfulness. It was a terrifying feeling, especially because she knew it came from herself. There was an enemy, and it was none other than herself. And no matter how much she tried, she was losing the fight.

  Not against herself, but to herself.

  Before Aloe knew it, sunlight peered through the silk curtains of the shared abode. She felt paralyzed at the sudden change of time, yet also felt impossible relief at the apparition of the sun. For the first time ever, she felt the heavens had blessed her, and they had only followed the same routine that they had done since the beginning of time.

  It took a deep breath that deformed her very chest to unsightly limits, but Aloe finally felt alive after what felt like an eternity, an instant far longer than her self-imposed captivity.

  She dreaded her own calmness, and she thanked the interruption of a knock on the door. There were many things to be done, and regardless of how she confronted them, she knew that anything would be better than not reacting at all.

  For she feared the Oblivion resting within herself.

  wink wink