Béchamel

Traveling had gone…better after that encounter. There were minor hiccups, like Stella having trouble keeping her pants from falling down around her waist. The vines had pretty much wrecked the zipper and button. They had also transitioned out of the area covered in plant life; it had gradually faded out and given way to what appeared to be polished stonework. While the areas before had had bricks similar to this, they had been much more rustic and looked like they had given way to wear and tear over time. This stone was smooth and glossy, with a hard edge at its corners. This meant it was either better preserved than the rest of the cave or was newer.

It had already been a few hours since the landscape had transitioned, and Stella’s eyes roamed over the place. She suddenly stopped moving and went over to one of the pillars, running her hand along the surface.

Amy stopped to turn and look at the imp, “Stella, everything alright? We probably shouldn’t be touching things randomly after everything that has happened.”

“I couldn’t tell if my eyes were playing tricks on me or not. These pillars aren’t just straight up and down, they bulge slightly towards the middle.” She ran her hand along the grooves in the pillar and then backed away.

Perplexed, but intrigued why this warranted attention, Amy asked, “Does that mean anything to us? A clue about where the shop might be?”

Stella shook her head, and Maya peered over, “Is this more bartender knowledge?”

The imp shot her a wry grin, “Sure, why not. No, it just means these columns are done in the Doric style, which is not impossible to find in Venice, but it’s far from the most common architectural style. I just thought it was weird.” Stella shrugged and resumed walking.

Amy blinked at Stella. The oni would never claim to be knowledgeable about many things; her interests were pretty focused on her field. But she felt that in the last day, she was learning more about her former roommate than she had during their entire time living together. The bartender simultaneously seemed to be thinking of nothing at any given time, but could have knowledge on any topic to a degree that was startling. The oni shook her head; now wasn’t really the time to be thinking about other people’s inner workings.

The longer they moved through the new zone, the more everyone’s anxiety spiked, expecting another cube or vines to spring out. None had so far, but it only made it feel more likely that it would happen out of nowhere. That was only one part of the problem; the other? Putting it simply, people were getting tired. Being vigilant while moving through the unfamiliar space was exhausting, and on top of all that, they didn’t have any water left after the incident with the slime.

The group was sweaty, tired, and thirsty, and they had no idea how much farther they would have to go to meet their goal. Worse still, they were reaching the point of being **** to turn around and not meet their goal to avoid missing curfew. Which, of course, would mean several hours of walking in the direction they just came from without water. Great.

They had just rounded a corner when Maya’s ears perked up. “Does anyone else hear that?”

The group paused and listened. It was a faint, soft sound, trickling in the distance. It was constant too, and every so often, accompanied by the sound of a splash. Everyone’s eyes went wide, and they looked at each other. “Water!” The call was simultaneous, and the group found themselves running down the alleyway towards the source of the sound.

It was a long hallway, but eventually there was an archway splintering off from the main path leading to an enclosed space, and inside was a beautiful fountain. A large silver chimera, looking like it was running down the ceiling with a stream of water coming from each of it’s different heads and landing in three circular pools that then joined together towards the back of the room. Every so often, the flow seemed to fluctuate, shrinking for a moment before a large rush of water came out, resulting in the splash they heard from afar.

A surge of relief filled the group before anxiety set in. Was it too good to be true? Was it another trap? Even if it wasn’t another trap, would the water be safe to drink?

Amy looked over to Stella, “Don’t suppose you know anything about whether it's safe to drink from a fountain?” The imp sighed and shook her head.

Surprising everyone, Maddy came forward and knelt next to the water, lifting some in her hands and letting it fall out. “It’s likely safe to drink, flowing water keeps a lot of the biggest dangers of drinking water in the wild away, the danger then becomes contamination from other sources, exposure to E. coli or sewage being the big ones.” Turning to see everyone’s expression, Maddy followed up, “Something my dad taught me when camping, it’s not guaranteed to be safe, if this is connected somehow to the hotel’s sewage line, that would be a problem.”

Maya looked around and in an even voice asked, “Anyone willing to be a guinea pig?”

Lily was about to lash out again when Maddy cut her off by speaking, “I think it’s best if I do it.”

Frowning, Amy knelt down next to Maddy, “You don’t need to do this, you know? Realistically, I don’t think with their resources the water would be dangerous to drink in a conventional way, that doesn’t mean it's not enchanted or comes to life or…” Her tired brain had a hard time coming up with things, and as she struggled, Maddy smiled up at her.

“I think you’re right, that’s why I’ll test it. You guys can keep watch by the door to make sure this isn’t a distraction for something else. I’ll taste the water, and if it’s ok, I will fill the water bottles back up and bring them out to everyone.” Seeing the look of concern stay on the Oni’s face, the chef bit her lip, “Everyone else has helped out or has already had to deal with the traps here, it’s only fair.”

Pausing for a moment, Amy looked Maddy in the eye and saw her determination, and nodded. She then turned to the rest of the group, “Anyone else have an objection?”

Lily frowned and thrust her fists down, “I say we don’t risk it at all. We can go thirsty for a while. It’s fine.” It was clear to Maddy that Lily meant well, but the lack of conviction in her voice told everyone she didn’t believe it.

“If Maddy is willing to do it, I think she should.” Maya piped up, crossing her arms in front of her, “The worst case scenario is the water is no good and we’re stuck in the same situation we are now. Best case, we have fresh water until we get out of here.”

Lily gritted her teeth, “And whatever happens to Maddy.” She growled out.

“We’re not going to abandon her. If something happens to her, we do what we can to support her out of here. But if she’s willing to assume the risk, it’s not our place to tell her no.” Maya continued waving her one hand expostulatorily.

Lily stopped; she had fully expected Maya to be all for ditching someone if they felt like dead weight. The disbelief must have shown on her face because Maya’s eyes narrowed, “How little you must think of me.”

Stella stopped forward and put her arms out, separating the two, “That’s enough of that, unless you’re about to take a swing or kiss, I don’t want to hear anything else. If this is what Mad’s wants to do, I support her.”

Maddy let out a relieved sigh, “Thanks, everyone. I won’t be long.”

People began to file out of the room to give Maddy room to test and collect the water. The blonde knelt next to the pool beneath the lion's head and cupped her hand under the stream flowing from its mouth before bringing her lips to the edge of her hand and drinking. The water was cool, and the thirst for it made it taste almost sweet. For a moment after drinking and letting it wash down her throat, Maddy just sat there in relief, looking towards the ceiling.

She was thankful for the moment of quiet and rest. There had been quiet while moving, but so much tension had made it impossible for Maddy to relax. The blonde felt like her nerves were about to snap. Not feeling anything peculiar happen, she cupped her hands and drank until her thirst quieted.

“I think it's ok…” She muttered to herself and pulled off her backpack, and then reached in to pull out the empty water bottles. If she had known about the threats they were going to be facing, she would have brought more. Well, one of those threats was Lily, so she guessed she couldn’t entirely blame the show for that. She placed the first bottle in the water to fill up. Still, the way that slime filled the hallway, they couldn’t have avoided it. If they wanted to avoid losing all their clothes, they would have needed to use their water at some point.

As she had this thought, the chef found herself keeling over as a sharp sensation radiated from her chest. As quickly as it came, the pain vanished and was replaced with a building heat that flowed from her abdomen to her chest. Maddy felt herself struggling to maintain her breathing as the sensation intensified and she felt it encompass the span of her chest. Then…

From outside, the others stood waiting when they heard a sharp cry from the fountain room. Everyone ran back inside the cramped area only to find Maddy bent down in the fountain, staring at what could only be described as mammoth breasts that now threatened to burst her shirt wide open.

Lily went over to the dumbstruck blonde, “Oh no, Maddy, are you alright?”

Holding her hands out, air cupping her own enlarged breasts, Maddy turned to Lily, “I…I think so.” Her voice was shaking. “It just caught me off guard; it happened so fast.”

Lily wrapped her arms around Maddy’s neck, consoling her, and Maya, behind her, sighed, “Guess we’re gonna have to go without water for now.”

Amy patted Maddy on the back, “Looks to be that way.”

“I mean yeah, zoinks scoob.” Stella skirted around while everyone gathered around Maddy, “Sure seems to be a problem.” Without turning away, Stella knelt down and, reaching behind her with her arm, grabbed the filled water bottle now floating in the fountain before standing up. “Yoink,” she muttered to herself quietly so none of the others could hear.

Caleb was on the ground again for maybe the sixth time in the last three hours. He was halfway between the entrance of the hotel and the dock where a collection of three fawns had gathered and were watching him with curiosity. Noemi was watching by the entrance, not because she wanted to be, but because Caleb had told her that he needed to try to do this on his own without help.

Six times now, he had tried to leave the hotel, only to make it a few steps before he felt the world tumble over on him. His chest felt like someone had been piling weight on him, and he had foolishly called for more. He tried to lift his left arm so he could push himself up, only to see it was bleeding slightly; he must have cut himself on the way down. He didn’t always faint during panic attacks, and when he did, he only tended to be out for a second or so at a time. Still, that was enough to go from a full standing position to the ground, and sometimes you hit stuff on the way down.

Caleb’s hands were shaking, his nerves were shot. Before developing his phobia, he would never have considered himself an anxious person, cautious maybe, but he didn’t tend to feel the sort of pressure or fear he’d associate with that. He’d ruminate on things, and his mind tended to go at a mile a minute when he was thinking, but stuff never bothered him. Now it was like he was making up for lost time.

Calling from the entrance, Noemi was hunched over, worried, and keeping herself from running to the master, “Caleb, are you ok? Do you need help up?”

Pushing himself off the ground, Caleb was able to bring his legs over to a sitting position so he wasn’t face-first on the ground anymore. He called back to Noemi, “No, I’m fi-...fine.” The absurdity of his statement, as his arm was bleeding, his body shaking, and on the ground, sent him into an uproarious laughter.

“Caleb?!” A worried Noemi called out, caught off guard by the sudden display of mirth.

“Just give me a moment, Noemi, I just need a moment to…even out.” Caleb exhaled hard and tried to get his breathing under control. One of the only things he had taken away from therapy. He hadn’t been looking to fix his agoraphobia then, just deal with it, now he wished he had listened to any of the professionals he had spoken with, their advice would probably be helpful now.

He put his hands flat against the ground and closed his eyes. So many people relied on him now, he couldn’t afford to go at a pace he was comfortable with or live life the way that was most comfortable for him. Maybe all he wanted was to hide in his room and pretend none of this was happening. Then he remembered all the women here and how hard they were trying, despite everything. No, in no world could he sit back while they dealt with this and he did nothing.

Noemi was pacing back and forth. She didn’t want to disobey Caleb, and she knew he was trying hard, but sitting still and watching as she struggled just wasn’t right! She looked over at him on the ground, chest heaving, sweat dripping down his brow, eyes closed, muscles flexing every time he tensed his fingers against the ground, those long…strong fingers. No! Focus. What could she do to help.

She paused and thought about everything she knew about agoraphobia. Ok, it wasn’t much, but maybe there was something in her experiences with Caleb that might help. She thought back at their time here at the hotel, their date by the pool, and… wait, that was it! Noemi turned and rushed back into the hotel.

Caleb heard the door open and turned to see Noemi leaving. I mean, fair, it would be unreasonable to expect her to just stand and watch this travesty for any longer than she already has. Caleb closed his eyes and summoned up whatever energy was in him to stand up. It was rocky, but he was able to get back to his. Now he just had to get back to the hotel; he could then take his time recovering, wait for his heart to stop beating out of his chest, and give it another go. He sighed, looking at where he was. All afternoon on this, and he hadn’t even made it to the docks.

With great effort, he hobbled his way over to the door and, leaning his weight on it, pushed past the entrance and into the cool interior of the hotel lobby. Immediate relief flowed through his body, even though his chest still hurt and his heart was pounding like crazy. With some better control of his movements, he went over to the armchair in the reading corner and flopped into it. He closed his eyes to rest. A few minutes went by, and he heard clattering, rushed footsteps coming in his direction.

Opening one eye, over his glasses, he could make out the blurry figure of Noemi coming his way. Caleb sat up straight and adjusted his lens and saw she was carrying a black umbrella in her hands, which she shoved into his arms as she made it over, “Noemi, what is this?”

“It’s an umbrella! It took forever to find, I guess, when they control the weather and don’t plan on having rain, they don’t keep them out where they might be easy to locate.” Noemi, seeing his look of confusion, smiled and continued, “Remember our date? You came out to the pool with me, and while you couldn’t go into the pool, you said it was easier under the awning.”

Caleb blinked; he hadn’t thought of that. It hadn’t fixed it by any means, but he had spent almost the entire afternoon outside with Noemi as she swam. He looked down at the umbrella in his hands. It sounded ridiculous, but if it didn’t work, what was there to lose, right?

He smiled at Noemi, “Thank’s Noemi, that was a really sweet thought.” He stood up, “I don’t want to get your hopes up, though, there’s a chance this does nothing, phobias are weird.”

Noemi smiled and nodded, “I mean, I know that. I wasn’t trying to fix it necessarily, just…doing nothing while the person you care about struggles. It’s just not right.”

Caleb closed his eyes, thinking about everyone here and how they felt after the challenge. “You’re right, it’s not. Thank you,” Caleb headed to the door. He turned and looked back at Noemi as he prepped the umbrella. “No time like the present, eh?”

Bouncing on her heels, Noemi came up to meet him as he walked outside and opened the umbrella.