To some hot springs

Eliza looked at Kat nervously, but didn’t really argue against leaving. She felt both excited and worried, excited about the prospect of strengthening her powers, but worried about the means that Kat had in mind. Nevertheless she grabbed a light jacket and the two women walked out the door.

Kat had refused to divulge the information on where they were going to her, repeating that she wanted to keep it a surprise. It was just getting dark out and many places were closing up for the night, so the question of where became more confusing to her. Especially with the direction they were going. There was a nightlife in their city, but it was in the opposite direction, basically ruling out any nightclubs or bars or the like.

“Alright, we’re here.” Kat said, motioning towards a sign. Written in large letters said “The Oasis Hot Springs.” It was a local naturally fed hot spring that Eliza had been to a couple of times before. She looked at Kat with a raised eyebrow.

“Um…you know this place closed like an hour ago, right?”

“That’s exactly why we’re here now.”

“No, we are not sneaking in.” Eliza stated.

“Oh it’s fine, what are you so worried about? Anyway, we don’t have much of a choice. It’s not like we can hone your aura control in front of other people, now can we?” Eliza wanted to object, wanted to stay true to her moral compass…but she didn’t argue. Kat was right, if they came here during normal hours then there would most certainly be other people bearing witness. And besides that, the want to improve her powers outweighed her moral compass at this point, so she agreed without any more fuss.

“Ok, fine, but how are we going to get in? I really rather not have to climb that fence.” Eliza eyed the fence that surrounded the back of the compound, being a dozen feet tall and completely flat, it would have been difficult to find a way in. Kat had apparently thought of this.

“That’s easy, we walk through the front door.” Waving her hand, the door shook a little and then there was an audible clicking noise. Kat was then easily able to grab the handle and swing the door open. Eliza keeps surprising herself at how often she doesn't see these things coming, at this point she should be used to it.

“But wait, what about an alarm?”

“Don’t worry, this place doesn’t have one, I already checked.”

“How did you…you know what, nevermind. Let’s just go.” Eliza walked through the open door without asking further. The two women walked through the dark and rather spooky looking hallway to reach the back. This door was locked too, but since they were already inside all it took was a simple twist of the lock and they exited into the courtyard.

It was a rather nice looking place. Being a natural spring, the water steamed even at this time of night, probably more profusely thanks to the temperature difference. There was one large pool of water that spanned the entire fenced area, indicating it was a mixed gender spa. Either way it’s not like that mattered at this time of night. Large rocks acted as natural walls to keep the pool contained, whether they were placed there or were always there Eliza couldn’t tell. In the back was the centerpiece of the spa, a small river that flowed down a set of rocks, which then transformed into a tiny waterfall that emptied into the main pool. It was a rather extravagant and large oasis in the middle of town, though that explained the name.

“Pretty nice ain't it? Now, take off your clothes so we can begin.”

“Wait, what? You mean, like, naked?”

“Did you bring a bathing suit?”

“I would have if you’d told me where we were going!”

“Semantics. Anyway, it’s better to have no clothing, it restricts your aura flow.”

“Uh huh, sure it does.” Eliza rolled her eyes, giving her a sideways glance.

“Oh sweetie, you need to be a little more trusting.” She simply rolled her eyes again. After giving it a few moments thoughts, she started to disrobe. She really didn’t have to get her current clothes wet and besides, Kat had seen everything already anyway…how was this any different? It felt slightly weird to undress out in the open air, she felt exposed. She knew Kat would be the only one looking, and she was looking, but still she felt a weird sense of vulnerability doing so. Neatly folding her clothes on a nearby bench, she covered herself the best she could as she strolled into the water.

The intense heat was a shock to her system in comparison to the brisk cold of the evening, though it wasn’t an unwelcome one. After a moment's hesitation she let herself sink into the steamy pool, enjoying the heat as it radiated through her body. Sitting down on an underwater seat, she finally let herself relax and lowered her arms. The water was murky enough for her not to have to worry about being seen anyway, barring some supernatural x-ray vision Kat could have, which who knew if that was actually a thing at this point.

“You know, I’m starting to like this idea more and more.” Eliza said out loud to no one in particular. Kat made her way to a nearby lounge chair, laying down and spreading herself out.

“Remember, we aren’t here to relax, well at least you aren’t anyway.” Kat flashed a smile before continuing. “Learning how to control your life essence is the first step to gaining mastery over this power. We'll start with something that sound's deceptively simple. Remember how you pooled the aura around your eyes? Well, I want you to do that around your entire face and dunk your head under that water. If you're doing it right, you'll have a little pocket of air around your face that you can actually breathe. Once you can keep that pocket of air stable, we can move onto the next step.”

“Wait, really? I hate submerging my face in hot water.” Eliza complained, scowling more at the water than at Kat.

“Well, then you have some motivation, now don’t ya? You go ahead and get started on that, I’ll just be here keeping watch.” Kat said, a large yawn in the middle of her words. She gave Kat maybe 10 minutes before she was out cold. It didn’t matter either way, what were the chances someone else had the same idea to break into a hot spring at this time of night, right?

Eliza stared down at the cloudy water as she mentally prepared herself. Just pooling her aura around her eyes was tough enough, this was going to be a whole new type of difficulty, though she supposed that was the point. Taking a deep breath, she dunked her head in one foul swoop. The flash of heat on her face and head disoriented her for a moment, making any attempt at focusing on the first attempt a futile one. Her head shot back up with just as much speed as she dunked it, her hair falling over her face uncomfortably in as a wet sopping mess.

This ritual continued for a while as Eliza was just unable to concentrate on her aura, and even when she did, it was harder than she thought. The task sounded like a breeze at first, after all she had done much more spectacular things with her powers than this, and yet it evaded her. Deceptively simple is right, this seemed almost impossible. A few times she felt the water come off her face for a split second before it back splashing back in, ruining any sort of concentration she may have had at that point.

An hour passed by with little success, leaving a frustrated and red faced Eliza huffing in the steamy pool. What was she getting wrong? Is it really this hard? After another failed attempt and another string of curses at herself. Everything else was coming so natural to her, why was this her first road block? She could move things, make things with her hands, this shouldn't be an issue.

That thought gave her an idea, to which she decided to test. Focusing on her hand under the water, she focused her aura around it instead. Gathering her essence, she felt some gratification as she felt the small bubble forming around her hand. She could feel the water pushing back into her aura, trying in a **** rush to fill in the void that she was creating. It was working! For the first time since she entered the pool she got it to work. Sure it was with her hands, but hey, at this point Eliza would take any progress.

She dunked her head into the bubble, it keeping it's form as opened her eyes. It was a pretty surreal sight, almost like a diving helmet. Steam bubbles rose to the edge of the bubble, it almost boiling similar to as if it was on the surface. After a few moments of this though, she felt a small, dull pain in her head as the bubble wobbled around her. It gave out, the area being filled with water, violently forcing water up her nose. Lurching upwards, Eliza coughed and wheezed as her body attempted to flush out the water in her nostrils.

Fatigue started to set in as she realized just how much of her essence she had expended with this little exercise. The gnawing hunger had returned deep down inside of her as well, her cravings starting to resurface after a full day of being dormant. It wasn’t an overbearing feeling, just a small itch at this point. Regardless of her aura levels, she felt physically fatigued as she felt her body move slower and slower, she was apparently at her limit.

“I think that’s good for tonight, we can always come back another night.” Kat rubbed her eyes, barely looking in her direction. Eliza wondered if she actually thought that or if it was simply because she had just woken up from her nap. Despite the reason, Eliza didn’t argue as she wasn’t sure she could keep this up much longer. And besides, she had Mr. Gordon’s makeup test to take and she would need some sleep for that. Kat watched her as she dragged herself out of the water, her mind far from caring about modesty at this point. She wanted to sleep, she needed to sleep. Gathering her clothes back up, she put them on the old fashioned way as Kat used her as her personal viewing gallery. Again, she was far from caring.

“Is this supposed to be so hard?” Eliza asked, still a little out of breath.

“It can be but don’t worry, you’re progressing beautifully.”

“Yeah…sure.” She was unsure whether to believe her words or not, seeing her eyes closed a few times during her training session.

Eliza found herself clutching at her flimsy jacket as they made it back to her apartment, the cold, now nighttime air doing a number on her still wet skin. Eliza flopped down on her bed feeling like she had run a mile, her muscles almost as sore as if she really had. It didn’t take long for sleep to overtake her consciousness, everything going black as she’s transported to the realm of dreams.