In the Tub

Ebony sat on her knees for an unknown length of time, recollecting herself.

She felt anger towards the Demon for his rough treatment of her body. But the heat from his body still lingered on her.

Fresh memories of his subtle gentle actions of keeping his weight off her to allow her to breath easier, flashed in her mind. The muscular body of the Demon imprinted deep into the recesses of her mind, making her unable to forget the tantalizing scene. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks, recalling the marvelous body.

She immediately slapped her cheek and questioned herself. "Ebony! What the hell!? Are you captivated by the evil Demon man?!"

Her strong will deemed such matters unacceptable. She talked herself into forgetting the encounter with the Demon.

"Get yourself together, Ebony! So what if he was a big bad sexy Demon!? He touched you inappropriately!"

Ebony slapped her legs to awaken them out of their stupor.

"So what if you panicked and tried to run away like a chicken!? You're Ebony Willis! The best Arch-Mage of the Halford Kingdom! I'll melt his dick off next time I see him! That bastard! I don't care if he's a Demon or not! No man gets away with doing that bullshit to me! I need to prepare some spells and tools! That damn delivery company! They caused all this! I would have been able to defend myself if they came on time like they were supposed to!"

Ebony may have overstated her qualifications.

Her mana capacity was amongst some of the largest recorded in the Halford Kingdom's history, but her mana manipulation was also amongst the worst. She lacked the ability to control her power and was deemed incompetent by many.

But the worst came from her family. Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned at the thought of her so-called family. She breathed deeply and exhaled the bullshit, refocusing on her situation.

After re-composing herself, she slowly stood up, still a bit weak in the knees. She traversed the opposite path from the Demon to get home.

Ebony trekked quickly through the overgrowth of the forest. She passed by, not even noticing the existence of valuable herbs she typically would be crazily harvesting. The thoughts of the Demon mn still lingered in her mind. The vegetation cut and bruised her sun-kissed skin as she moved through, but she felt no pain. The trees gradually thinned, and she finally made it through the forest to flat fields of verdant grass.

Ebony crouched low and looked around, alert for possible witnesses and to figure out her current location. Unlike the majority of settlers living closer to town in the freshly conquered world of Liesa, Ebony lived alone on her homestead close to the fringes of the Forest of Cain. She came to her new world, located on the Sixth Planar Cluster, searching for a fresh start and a bountiful life. However, her run-in with the Demons and the Church again soiled her ideal expectations.

She recalled the beautiful poster, advertising a peaceful country lifestyle. However, the advertisement did not show the Demons she would have to deal with and live around. But the Foreign Relations Department of the Halford Kingdom went to great lengths to educate her regarding the dangers. Overly confident, she belittled the issues and signed and paid the contract for her new home, ignorant of the threats clearly stated.

Ebony rejected the thought of regret. She was still alive and well. Her motto was to keep moving when times get tough, and she did just that. She slapped her face, reminding herself of the capable woman she was.

"You are Ebony Summers. I am Ebony Summers. I need no one! And I definitely don't need a man!"

With no one around, Ebony dusted off the dirt and brush from her beige blouse and sepia-colored pants. Using her fingers, she combed her smooth black hair. Straightening her back, she lifted her head and encouraged herself.

"You got this, Ebony babe. You got this. Let's make it home, and take a hot warm bath. You'll make the demon a eunuch soon. That 's right! I'll melt off his dick!"

The thought of soaking in a tub of perfectly heated water melted the terrible events of the day away from Ebony's mind. She strutted confidently forward onto the dirt path, cleared by the kingdom, and walked off toward her home.

Unbeknownst to her, there was someone there. A now semi-sober human drunkard heard and saw all Ebony stated. Selt tumbled out of the bushes with leaves and twigs in his messy blonde hair.

He finally let out his breath. "Bwah!" He sighed in relief. "I thought that was a Demon! She was close enough to one, though. Melting off his…Scary…"

He looked down at his member and gulped before becoming upset.

"Man. I was worried for nothing. It wasn't a Demon."

He got up, looking at the direction Ebony traversed. He recalled her mention of being a mage and smirked. "Are there now two Arch-Mages in the kingdom?"

His smirk warped into a scowl, thinking of mages. "Damn, lady! Of course, she's a mage. I hate mages, always acting all high and mighty! They all think they're better than everyone else, just like those Church fanatics. I can't believe I still have to deal with them in this place. What's the point of coming here if they're still here!"

Selt's body glowed with an aura unique to knights and those who use their bodies to physically fight. He dashed off in the opposite direction in a stomping fury, leaving footprints behind in the dirt path.

Not knowing her secret encounter with the demon was exposed, Ebony continued her way home. She strutted down the dirt path like it was a catwalk. Her confident strides with her long legs moved her smoothly across the road home. She gave a one-model fashion show to an audience of sparse trees and shrubs.

However, she still looked around the surroundings to ensure she was not stalked by another creeper. She passed a few familiar large fields of crops, indicating she was close to home.

Further in the fields were transparent domes of light, barriers to keep out unwanted guests. The domes were the first safeguards protecting the foolhardy settlers, taking on the dangers of the new world, who bought the vast seized open lands as their own.

Ebony veered off the communal dirt path and onto the starting of a cobblestone road leading to her abode. Smooth rocks of different sizes were laid in piles along the path of her new project. The hectic events of the day already began slipping off of her as she finally set foot on her homestead.

She skipped on the few stones inlaid into the road, leading to the light dome protecting her new life in Liesa. A small rustic thatched-roof cottage appeared in the distance as she took out a round circular coin from her bag.

Clasping the metal token in her hand, she entered through the light, softly rippling from her passing. She looked at her single line of defense, disturbed at the thought of more Demons attacking her place of solace.

"Damn, Demons. I need to beef up security. Maybe I need to add some more layers of light barriers? I can charge the mana batteries so the upkeep cost wouldn't be too bad. I need to prepare the fields too, and start acquiring some farm animals. Oh! I can't forget about the cobblestone path too!"

Her list of things to do kept growing as she listed them off. Overwhelmed, Ebony rushed to her cottage, wanting to soak away all the troubles of her day.

She entered through the door to an empty unfurnished room. Only her sleeping bag she brought along with her carry-on luggage, lay rolled-out in front of the small fireplace.

'Cozy' was a nice term to call the tiny building of two rooms, assuming you counted the bathroom as the second room. However, the term 'cozy' required a warm feeling.

She first lit the dry wood she collected from around her homestead. Ebony dared not use her spell for fear of blowing up her house. Instead, she scraped two metal rods, also brought along with her, against each other to generate sparks. Blowing on the small ignition of sparks shot wafts of smoke up the chimney. The spot glowed red and kindled into flames. With her home warming up, she finally was free to start her bath.

Ebony walked her three bags of carry-on luggage she brought with her. Picking one off the floor, she ruffled her arm inside and pulled out a pair of circular metal plates, one etched and engraved with blue geometric symbols and the other red.

Taking both metal plates, she entered her tiny bathroom. Her small hand mirror she brought with her hung above the sink with some of the toiletries she pulled out upon arrival.

Moving past the toilet right between the sink and tub, she placed the red circular plate on the frame of the tub, and moved the blue plate by the open window.

"Ok, Ebony. Remember what Mr. Bell said. Slow and steady. Circulate your mana, slowly and steadily."

She closed her eyes and slightly pushed her mana through her body, circulating it into the blue plate.

Swoosh!

A torrent of water shot out like a river and drenched the entire bathroom. Ebony pulled away the circular plate, and the water slowly trickled like a stream into the tub. The magic device pulled water from the air or surrounding and condensed them to be released elsewhere.

"Ugh. That was as little as I could go! Look at this mess! What a terrible day!"

However, cleaning up was not difficult. She closed the window and went to the soaked areas of the bathroom. Using the blue plate, she absorbed the water on the wet floors into the plate and directed it back to the tub. It wasn't completely accurate, but the spills were much more manageable.

Placing down the blue circular plate on the tube, she carefully hovered it over the water. She took a breath, worried about scaling herself.

"Ok. Ok. Focus. Ebony, you can do this!"

A child could do better and much faster, but Ebony had much difficulty controlling her vast amounts of mana. Somehow she miraculously didn't boil the water or worse, evaporate all the water into steam.

"By the Gods! I did it!" Placing the plate down, she dipped her finger into the perfectly warmed water. It was hot, but not to the point of scalding. She hurriedly undressed; her clothes flying as she tossed them back.

She dipped her toe, and her body melted, submerging entirely inside the water.

"Ah… this is the life." Ebony let out a deep breath and all the troubles of the day. She reached over and grabbed some soap and shampoo on the ground, knocked over by her earlier mishap with the water plate.

She stretched her arm and washed herself. However, as she washed her hand, the unwanted memory of the Demon man brushing the back of her hand against his jawline made Ebony turn rosy in the cheeks. She splashed her hand against the water, trying to forget the encounter. But then she recalled the kiss and jumped up and out of the tub.

She quickly dried herself and got into her sleeping bag by the fireplace with her hair still wet.

"No! Ebony! Don't you dare! Don't you dare think anything else about that Demon man! He's a Demon!" She rolled back and forth in her sleeping bag, refusing to do anything to the Demon.

"But he was really… cool…" Ebony said before falling asleep.

The morning sun streaked through the curtainless windows of Ebony's cottage, but she lay smiling asleep, unbothered by the light. However, something else would wake her.

"Hello!? Is a Ms. Ebony Summers here?! This is Selt with Zippers!" Ebony sat up, groggy and dazed, still half asleep. "I'm here to deliver your stuff!" Hello?! If no one is here, the packages will be left back at the Zipster's store in town!"

"Oh shit!" Ebony jumped up and ran out the door, only remembering she was banned from Zipster. She was completely oblivious to what she wore… as she ran out the door…