Back at the inn that Lili had brought them to, Yona was in awe.
Her eyes filled with wonder as she spun around in the hot spring, floating idly with her friend beside her. "This is my first time being in an inn this beautiful."
Ayura and Tetora had accompanied Lili inside where the two other girls were promptly overwhelmed by how stunning this hotel was.
Pale pink garlands crept their way up the walls of the giant building, the evergreen leaves bright in contrast to the dark brick. Despite it being such a large establishment with quite a few levels bustling with activity, there was a lull in how many people were at the hot springs, so Lili announced that now would be the perfect time to go soak and she wasn't taking no for an answer.
Yona and Calista were left no other choice than to follow the bossy girl taking direction, though Calista grumbled a lot more about it than the princess did.
It wasn't that she didn't want to spend more time with Yona, she really did, she just wasn't sure how she felt about being separated from the guys.
Since the baths were separated by gender, Calista felt uneasy having Shin-ah, Zeno and Yoon all the way on the other side of the hotel.
If something were to happen, she wouldn't be able to make it there in time. If one of them got hurt, she wouldn't be there to help.
Calista shook her head slightly to stop herself from going too far and Yona glanced her way worriedly.
"Calista?" She called out softly, catching the attention of the other girls and the raven-haired fighter looked the other way.
"I'm alright." She reassured easily, flashing her a smile that she hoped was more convincing than her words were.
Shin-ah hadn't wanted to let her go either, prompting an eye roll from Yoon and a fond smile from Zeno when they embraced as though they weren't going to see each other for a long time but Calista knew better.
The things they had sorted out and worked through were still fresh and she wanted him to know that she hadn't forgotten, just like he wanted to make sure that she knew how much he loved her.
Her silver eyes flickered up to meet his mask and she could already envision the concern that would be swimming in his golden orbs as he traced her jaw with his thumb from where his hand was resting against her neck.
Warm and secure.
"Call me if you need me, and I'll be there." Calista promised quietly.
Shin-ah tilted his head down to rest his forehead against hers and let out a soft sigh, his breath tickling her face. And she knew what that meant, what he couldn't quite articulate because Zeno and Yoon were standing there and waiting for him to finish a few paces away.
The exact same went for him.
"There's an even more luxurious, well-established inn in Shisen." Lili told Yona haughtily, breaking Calista out of her thoughts. "This is probably a rare opportunity for you, so tell me if you want anything."
Calista fought the urge to roll her eyes. If only she knew that Yona was the princess of the kingdom, the same spoiled princess who had been showered with gifts of expensive perfumes, jewels and imported clothing from all over the country.
But she also recognized that this was probably Lili's way of being kind, so she let the somewhat underhanded comment about Yona's supposed status roll off of her.
Tetora leaned her face into her hand as she brought up and gushed. "It's so unusual for Lady Lili to invite a friend over!!"
"We're not friends." Lili corrected her attendant flatly, inclining her head slightly at Yona's various scrapes and patches of discoloration all over her body. "Anyway, what's with those bruises?"
"Really!! What a thing to do to a girl's body!!" Tetora chimed in, her fingers drumming delicately across her own skin while Ayura just looked disinterested in where this conversation was going.
Calista subconsciously sank further into the white water, trying to hide her multitude of scars and blemishes that were exposed from what her undergarments didn't cover. If they thought that Yona was scuffed up, they wouldn't have any nice words to say when it came to her.
"I'm learning the sword to defend myself." Yona replied simply, not even looking down to glance at her battered body.
They were all sitting in a circle in the hot spring, though Calista was a bit closer to Yona than the other girls, just in case.
The fighter cracked a smile as Ao let out an adorable, "P'kyuuu~", as she splashed around playfully.
Ayura arched an eyebrow at Yona's admission, interest piqued. "The sword?"
"Oh my, and with a small body like yours?" Tetora quipped back lightly.
Yona blushed, though it was unclear whether or not she was flustered by their comments or if she took it as words of praise. "I'm still bad at them though."
"You have such strong men with you. What need do you have in taking up the sword?" Tetora inquired, swimming over to her.
Yona's lavender eyes grew a bit distant and she swallowed thickly. "They're all trying to shield me. I don't want to drag them down."
She looked up as a hand covered hers in the water and she smiled gratefully as Calista's show of support.
Hak, the four dragons, Yoon and even her friend right beside her, Yona would not allow them to sacrifice themselves for her. That is why she wanted to get stronger, so she could protect them too.
"It's fine!! Let them protect you, I'm envious." Tetora cooed with a light laugh, waving her hand as she emphasized the latter portion of that sentence, just as Calista retracted her touch to rest her hands in her lap.
"Tetora, your true colors are showing." Ayura noted bluntly and Lili huffed under her breath, muttering how it was unreal that so many men were following her but only one other girl.
Such imbalance.
Yona fidgeted, causing the water to ripple around her. "Besides, I want to be acknowledged."
Tetora filled in the blanks for her as the princess trailed off and tilted her head to the side. "By the one you love?"
Trying not to burst out laughing, Calista grinned at the slightly panicked expression that flitted across Yona's face. Looks like she was getting closer to coming to terms with those feelings she approached her about for advice back in the day when they were at the Wanderer's Market.
"—Not that." Yona denied, even though her voice shook and a faint tint of pink was still present on her cheeks.
Tetora tsked lightly, delicately shaking a finger at her. "That won't do!! With that many men, you're lying if you say there isn't a single one of them you have feelings for!!"
"I said it's not that!!" Yona burst out, but her panic was getting the best of her and it was making her lose her calm.
Lili looked at the flustered red-haired girl out of the corner of her eye. "But three of those men have gone to the red-light district, right?"
Calista blinked at her candor. A silence fell over the group of five and it was only broken with Ao cannonballed into the pool and splashed water in her face.
"Men really are stupid creatures!! Forget them!!" Lili demanded as she stuck her face close to Yona's.
"I'm saying you're wrong!! They went to stop the nadai!!" Yona replied just as hotly, her eyes shining with determination.
She firmly believed that that's all there was to it. There was no way they went to go fool around with the girls there, even if Jae-ha would normally be an advocate for it since they were already there, she didn't think that Hak or Kija would go along with it.
And while she wouldn't dictate what they could or couldn't do, especially for her bodyguard who always seemed so reluctant to have fun and smile, she couldn't help but feel strongly that her mission had resonated within them too.
Yona knew that they went to go get some answers, not just for her sake, but for theirs as well so that they could get one step closer to purging this evil from the Water Tribe.
But Lili was insistent. There was no way that they went for that reason only.
"You never know what men are doing behind your back!!" Lili declared, her delicate facial features contorted in frustration as this simple country girl failed to get that through her head.
"It's not like I'm okay with them going to places like that!! But right now they're on a mission." Yona shot back, her eyes wide as she implored her to believe her. "I don't think Hak and the others would lie to me about something like that."
"Ao, be careful..." Calista whispered to the drenched squirrel as she picked her up, setting her in her hands so that she could keep track of her. "Shin-ah will be worried if you end up getting sick."
The furry little creature had been exposed to harsh conditions already when she scampered alongside Shin-ah in the catacombs of his village, but Calista didn't want to chance the possibility of her falling ill if she kept going in and out of the warm water like she had been doing.
Squeaking, Ao grabbed ahold of the finger that was tickling her stomach and she nibbled on the end, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to make it clear that she wanted to play.
Calista smiled softly, failing to notice that all the attention had fallen on her before the weight of three heavy gazes and one bashful one was too much to ignore any longer.
"What?" She snapped a bit impatiently. If they weren't going to be direct and just ask, she didn't have time for them. And she wasn't in the mood to answer any nosy questions.
Ayura's stoic façade cracked a fraction and a hint of amusement slipped through as she regarded her seriously. "Who's Shin-ah?"
Knowing she was being backed into a corner, Calista's jaw flexed as she held her gaze and stood fast to show that she wasn't afraid.
"He's my boyfriend." She declared without an ounce of hesitation, scratching Ao under her chin as she blinked at the other women.
Yona beamed widely, nearly tearing up at how brazenly she confessed it. Before, she would hide that fact in favor of not wanting to overwhelm the poor blue dragon with attention as well as to protect him against anyone who would use their relationship against her but now, it seems that they had worked some things out.
They were stronger.
"Oh my!!" Tetora giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as she closed her eyes. "How adorable!! Is he in your group as well? Which one is he?"
Calista's cheeks were tinged with red at this point but she cleared her throat as Tetora peppered her with an endless stream of questions. She shot Yona a firm glance when the princess giggled but it softened when the joy she felt in her heart was mirrored in her friend's eyes.
"He's the one with the mask." She said before ducking her head and mumbling under her breath. "And the stardust blue hair that's so soft, his beautiful eyes that shine brighter than the sun when he looks at his friends, and those red marks underneath his eyes that you can't see when he blushes—"
"Oh my, you sound in love!!" Tetora squealed, clasping her hands together and Calista flailed as she almost slipped due to her embarrassment.
"W-What?!" She sputtered.
Even Yona had the audacity to laugh along with her and she whipped her head around, glaring at the princess but it did nothing to quell her fit of giggles.
Sighing, Calista dropped her shoulders, knowing that she wasn't going to win this one.
Yona sidled over to her, dropping her head on her shoulder in a moment of playfulness. "I mean, are you not?"
Calista's silver eyes grew distant as she remembered what it was like when first met him, the love she felt for him even back then. And although it had transformed throughout their journey together, she didn't know.
She had never been in love before. What did it look like?
Even though she told Yona that loving Hak and being in love with him were two different things, she herself was still unsure. She thought it would be enough to observe those who claimed to be in love, finding a pattern in it just like she always did so that she could replicate it in a pinch if a mission was going sideways.
A damsel in distress who was head-over-heels for the bad guy was almost always a surefire way of getting them to take her along just to shut her up.
But Shin-ah wasn't any of those people. He was important to her. He mattered to her, unlike all those other people from her past life.
And she didn't want to get this wrong.
"I'm not quite sure." Calista answered slowly, smiling down and shaking her head at Yona's pout. "I love him, just like I love all of you. Even if it's a little bit different."
Yona frowned, not upset, just contemplating her words. Her thoughts turned to a certain raven-haired Thunder Beast and immediately, her cheeks colored and she turned around in the opposite direction.
Calista was about to ask what was wrong, even though she had an inkling, when someone else voiced their opinion.
Lili lifted an eyebrow. "You shouldn't fall in love, especially for someone so young."
Her declaration had Calista barking out a laugh. "Oh?"
The teasing lilt in her voice passed completely over Lili's head as she nodded vigorously. "Men change too much until they get older. You should wait until then."
But although Calista disagreed with her in this particular instance, she did see where she was coming from. Still, instead of being offended, she actually laughed. This was hilarious because she knew that even though Shin-ah would change, that he would probably grow in a way that she wasn't expecting, she just knew that she wanted to be there with him while he went through life.
A cheeky smile spread across her face. "May I ask how old you are?"
"17." Lili announced triumphantly and Calista nearly lost it at that.
She had a lot of growing up to do but then again, so did she. It was just funny, she was getting love advice from someone younger than her. And judging by her remarks about men, she was willing to be she herself had never been in love or in a relationship.
Wiping the tears away, Calista giggled to herself as Lili was left a bit puzzled to her odd reaction.
"What's wrong, Ayura?" Tetora asked as she swam over, noticing her comrade's silence during their light-hearted conversation.
The other bodyguard lifted herself out of the hot spring, never flinching once at how exposed she was as she wrung out her dark, cropped hair.
Calista felt a flash of jealousy at how easy it was for her to not be ashamed of her body, she herself was too self-conscious when it came down to nakedness. A flush crept up her neck as she recalled Shin-ah's soft lips leaving behind purple bruises all over her body and she choked on air as she remembered a particularly prominent mark left behind on her inner thigh.
"That man named Hak... something about him is really weighing on my mind." Ayura replied to Tetora as the other girls' embarrassment passed by unnoticed.
"Oh my, Ayura, are you aiming for him?" Tetora teased.
"Quit it with the annoying responses, Tetora." She responded solemnly, a hint of irritation seeping through her guarded exterior.
Tetora giggled at her seriousness, leaning up to rest her chin in the palm of her hand. "You don't enjoy joking around, do you?"
But the humor in her eyes faded and she hummed as she recalled Hak to the forefront of her thoughts, sparing a glance at the raven-haired girl who had stepped out of the bath alongside Yona. "But you're right. To tell the truth, that man is really weighing on my mind too."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as Calista reached up to grab clean robes for both her and the red-haired girl, Ayura following her gaze and mouth parting a fraction as she saw what she noticed.
Tetora sighed quietly, left to ponder it without any certain answers for the time being.
"And he's not the only one..."