The Amaranth Service District existed in a state of perpetual twilight, where magical illumination painted everything in shades that suggested sophistication and probably charged extra for the privilege. Unlike the chaotic energy of the Market District, this area moved with the sort of calculated elegance that came from catering to people who had money and intended to spend it on experiences rather than objects.

"The Celestial Sanctuary," Ember read from an ornate sign that seemed to be made of crystallized starlight. "Luxury relaxation services for the discerning adventurer."

The building itself appeared to have been designed by someone who'd decided that architecture should make people feel wealthy just by looking at it. Marble columns supported a facade decorated with enough precious metals to fund a small war, while soft music drifted from within like audible silk.

"Luxury relaxation," Pyra repeated, studying the promotional materials displayed near the entrance. "That sounds amazing after spending all day shopping and being responsible adults."

"We spent the day engaging in indulgent purchases," Cinder pointed out, her new heels clicking on the polished marble steps. "That's not the same as being responsible adults."

"Details," Kindle announced, clutching her crystals. "The point is we deserve pampering."

"Do we, though?" Ash asked, looking thoughtfully at the sanctuary's elegant decor. "Or have we simply convinced ourselves that relaxation requires professional intervention?"

"Right now, I don't care," Ember declared. "My shoulders feel like they're made of angry rocks, and if professional intervention can fix that, I'm willing to pay for it."

A woman emerged from the sanctuary's entrance with the sort of graceful movement that suggested either extensive training in hospitality or minor enchantments designed to make customers feel welcome. She was dressed in robes that seemed to shimmer between colors, and her smile held the professional warmth of someone who made her living by helping people spend money on themselves.

"Welcome to the Celestial Sanctuary," she announced, her voice carrying the kind of soothing tones that made stress evaporate on contact. "I'm Serenity, your consultation specialist. How may we enhance your evening?"

"We need relaxation," Pyra announced immediately. "Professional relaxation. The kind that costs money and involves people doing things to us that we can't do ourselves."

Serenity's smile remained perfectly serene, though her eyes suggested she'd dealt with exhausted adventurers before. "Of course. What kind of services interest you?"

"What kind of services do you offer?" Ember asked, already feeling more relaxed just from standing near the entrance.

"Complete relaxation packages," Serenity replied, producing a menu that appeared to be written on moonbeams. "Thermal spring treatments with mineral enhancement. Therapeutic massage for accumulated stress. Guided meditation in our specialized chambers."

"Thermal springs," Kindle repeated dreamily. "Like bathing, but expensive."

"Therapeutic massage," Cinder added, rolling her shoulders. "For people whose bodies hate them."

"Guided meditation," Ash mused. "Philosophical relaxation with professional supervision."

The descriptions made their accumulated stress from missions, shopping, and general adventuring existence seem suddenly unbearable. How had they been functioning without professional relaxation services?

"Pricing?" Cinder inquired with the sort of practical approach that never quite abandoned tactical thinking, even in luxury establishments.

"Our harmony package is thirty gold pieces per person," Serenity explained, her tone suggesting this was the reasonable option for sensible people. "The complete transcendence experience is fifty gold pieces per person—everything in the basic package plus private chambers and premium treatments."

"Premium treatments?" Pyra's orange flames sparked with interest.

"Enhanced mineral springs, extended massage therapy, and personalized meditation programs designed for your individual stress patterns."

Fifty gold pieces each would consume most of their remaining funds, but the promise of complete transcendence seemed worth considerable investment. When would they next have the opportunity for professional pampering?

"The transcendence experience," Ember decided before anyone could voice practical objections. "For all five of us."

"Ember," Cinder started, probably about to point out the mathematics involved.

"We're doing this," Ember interrupted with the sort of authority that came from being tired of making responsible decisions. "We earned this money through dangerous missions, and we're going to spend it on something that makes us feel human again."

"Agreed," Ash said, eyeing the menu. "Temporary wealth should be converted into memorable experiences."

Pyra inspected her coin pouch, which rattled with the weight of limited decision-making. "I'm almost out of money anyway. Professional pampering it is!"

"Excellent choice," Serenity's smile brightened in a way that probably meant the commission on her sale was substantial. "Right this way."

The Celestial Sanctuary's interior resembled what might happen if someone decided that luxury should be tangible enough to breathe. Soft lighting emanated from crystals that had been arranged according to principles that probably involved both geology and psychology. The air itself felt different—warmer, smoother, carrying scents that suggested flowers grown in magical gardens by people who understood aromatherapy.

"Is the air actually different, or am I imagining things?" Kindle wondered, taking experimental breaths.

"Mild enhancement," Serenity explained as she led them deeper into the building. "We circulate air through crystal filters that remove stress-inducing particles and add calming aromatics."

"They filter the air for stress particles," Pyra repeated to the others. "This place is either amazing or completely ridiculous."

"Both," Cinder replied. "Definitely both."

"Your preparation chamber," Serenity announced, leading them into a room where elegant furnishings provided spaces for relaxing and an assortment of comfortable clothing in soothing colors was neatly arranged. "Please change into the provided attire and present yourselves for relaxation. One of our staff will collect your belongings for safekeeping."

"And the shoes?" Cinder inquired, her new heels still gleaming with the polish of fresh ownership.

"Those too."

Cinder's crimson flames contracted slightly, but she acquiesced with a nod. "Very well. Team uniformity it is."

"It's kind of nice," Ember pointed out, inspecting the soft fabric. "And after a day of walking around the market district, wearing something without laces, buckles, or heavy-duty enchantments also sounds luxurious."

They changed into the provided clothing, which turned out to be so comfortable that Cinder only muttered briefly about the indignity of not wearing fashionable footwear.

"I feel expensive already," Pyra announced, spinning to make her robe flare dramatically.

"The robes alone probably cost more than most people spend on clothing in a year," Ash observed, running her fingers across the soft material.

"How much do you think they charge if someone accidentally sets one on fire?" Kindle wondered, studying the fabric with nervous attention while actively trying not to think about flames.

"Let's not find out," Ember replied quickly, privately calculating whether their remaining budget could cover robe replacement costs.

Serenity returned to retrieve their belongings while Pyra continued her flamboyant robe-dancing, Cinder attempted to relax by critically analyzing the comfort of the furnishings, Ash absently reviewed meditation techniques, Kindle began reading the relaxation brochure with nervous attention, and Ember took deep, calming breaths of filtered air.

"Your treatments begin with our thermal springs," Serenity announced. "Individual pools, privacy assured, mineral compositions selected for your specific stress patterns. Take as long as you need."

"Specific stress patterns?" Ember asked.

"Our consultation crystals analyze tension distribution and recommend mineral enhancement. Each pool will be customized for optimal relaxation."

"They're going to analyze our stress," Kindle told the others with wonder usually reserved for witnessing minor miracles.

"Professionally," Ash added. "Stress analysis as a luxury service."

"This is either the best money we've ever spent or the most ridiculous," Cinder declared.

"Why not both?" Pyra replied cheerfully.

The thermal springs occupied caverns beneath the sanctuary that had been carved from living rock and polished to mirror smoothness. Steam rose from pools that glowed with their own inner light, while the air hung thick with mineral-rich humidity that seeped relaxation directly through the skin.

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"This is like bathing in liquid starlight," Pyra breathed, sinking into water that was exactly the right temperature—hot enough to melt tension, cool enough to avoid triggering her abilities. The sensation was unlike anything she'd experienced, as if the water itself was designed to absorb stress and convert it into warmth.

"My pool's completely different," Cinder called from three basins over, her voice carrying wonder that came from discovering unexpected things. "Cooler water, but it smells like mint and something else I can't identify. And there are tiny bubbles that feel like little massages."

"Mine's practically tropical," Kindle added, already completely submerged except for her head. Azure flames created tiny heat mirages above the water surface. "And it smells like those little cakes they sell near the Guild hall. Vanilla and cinnamon."

"Vanilla and cinnamon," Ash identified from the depths of her own pool, her voice echoing slightly off the cavern walls. "Mine smells like old books and rain. Very specific old books—the kind that have been well-loved by people who understand literature."

"That's weirdly specific," Ember observed, settling deeper into water that carried scents of warm bread and honey. "Mine smells like comfort food. Think they customize the aromatherapy?"

"Think they charge extra for customization?" Cinder wondered, though her tone showed she was having difficulty maintaining her usual skepticism while soaking in mineral-rich bliss that was actively dissolving months of accumulated tension.

"They do," Pyra replied, experimenting with moving her arms through water that felt more like liquid silk than anything that should legally exist. "But I don't care. This is worth whatever they're charging."

"Everything hurts all the time and we just ignore it," Kindle announced with profound realization that came from having professional relaxation services address problems you didn't know you had. "How did we not know our bodies were this angry at us?"

"Adrenaline," Cinder supplied, though the observation lacked her usual analytical edge. Her pool was working magic on her perpetually active mind, convincing it that threat assessment could wait while thermal therapy addressed the physical consequences of constant vigilance. "We run on crisis energy. Never actually relax."

"Until now," Ash murmured, having achieved a meditative state that involved both physical and philosophical relaxation. "This is what normal people feel like when they're not constantly prepared for supernatural emergencies."

The pools worked their magic through simple physics enhanced by minor enchantments. Heat relaxed muscles that had been unconsciously tensed by months of combat, rapid travel, and the general stress of being superhuman in a world designed for normal people. The mineral content left their skin feeling softer than silk, while the aromatic elements were calibrated to individual psychological comfort requirements.

"I can't feel my shoulders," Pyra announced after twenty minutes of soaking. "They've just... disappeared. Everything from my neck down is warm liquid that used to be tense muscles."

"That's good," Ember replied, though her own voice had taken on the dreamy quality that came from complete muscle relaxation affecting her ability to form coherent thoughts. "You carry a lot of tension there."

"I carry tension everywhere," Pyra corrected, floating on her back with the expression usually associated with religious experiences. "Turns out moving at superhuman speeds puts stress on parts of your body you didn't know existed."

"My neck has opinions," Kindle added, discovering that relaxation revealed exactly how much strain they'd been ignoring. "Very strong opinions about how I've been treating it."

"Everything from my temples to my ankles is having a conversation about stress," Cinder observed with detached fascination that came from experiencing her body as something other than a tactical asset for the first time in months. "I've been very unfair to my back."

"Your back deserves an apology," Ash replied, her philosophical nature satisfied by thermal therapy that addressed existential tension as well as physical stress. "We all owe our bodies apologies."

The thermal therapy continued for nearly an hour, during which they discovered muscles they'd forgotten they had and stress patterns they'd been carrying since their arrival in Eldoria. Conversation gradually evolved from amazement to comfortable silence as the springs worked their particular magic on bodies that had been pushed beyond normal human limitations for months.

"I think I'm melting," Kindle eventually announced, her azure flames creating lazy spirals above water that had convinced her nervous system to completely abandon its usual state of enthusiastic readiness. "In a good way."

"Same," Pyra agreed, experimenting with movements that felt more like dancing than swimming. "I might have become part of the pool. I'm not sure I want to leave."

"We should move on to the massage portion," Ember suggested, though her tone indicated complete reluctance to leave paradise for anything resembling responsibility.

"Five more minutes," everyone replied simultaneously.

"Ten more minutes," Cinder corrected.

"Fifteen," Ash added.

"Until they make us leave," Pyra concluded.

The massage chambers occupied individual rooms designed with enough privacy to accommodate clients who might have unusual relaxation needs. Each chamber featured a different ambiance—some bright and energetic, others dim and contemplative—but all equipped with tables carved from single pieces of exotic wood and cushions designed by people who understood comfort as both art and science.

"I've never had a professional massage," Pyra confessed as her therapist—a competent woman named Harmony—began working on shoulders that contained enough knots to supply a sailing ship.

"Most people haven't," Harmony replied, applying pressure that managed to be both gentle and devastatingly effective. "Especially not people with your level of physical activity. Do you mind if I ask what kind of work you do?"

"Adventuring," Pyra replied, then realized this might require explanation. "Professional adventuring. Combat, mostly. Some running. Occasional property damage."

"That explains the tension patterns," Harmony observed, working systematically through muscle groups that Pyra hadn't realized were connected. "You have the knots that come from frequent stress and fast movement."

"We do a lot of fast movement," Pyra admitted. "Also some fire. And a lot of... um... adventurous social dynamics."

"Wealth management?"

"Team dynamics," Pyra corrected. "Lots of group coordination and dramatic gestures, also some bickering."

The massage techniques involved pressure, heat, and minor magical enhancement applied through skilled hands. Harmony found a particularly stubborn knot between Pyra's shoulder blades and applied focused pressure.

"How do you get knots in places that don't—oh!" Pyra's question cut off abruptly as Harmony found a particularly stubborn tangle between her shoulder blades and applied pressure that sent unexpected sensations shooting through her entire upper body. "Oh, that's... that's very..."

"Tension release," Harmony explained, calmly reducing the knot to nothing as Pyra writhed. "Your body is remembering what relaxation feels like. Just breathe through it."

"Right. Breathing. I can do breathing," Pyra managed, though her voice had taken on a slightly strangled quality.

The pressure continued, working through knots and tension and other consequences of being a super-powered adventurer with the attention span of a hummingbird who'd accidentally been injected with caffeine. Pyra found herself melting into a table and making involuntary sounds of relief that she really hoped weren't carrying through the walls.

"Ohhh, right there," she murmured, then immediately felt her face burning. "I mean... the knot. The tension knot."

Next door, Cinder was experiencing her own revelations about professional bodywork. Her therapist had found what felt like a rope of tension running along her spine, and was methodically working to dissolve it.

From the next chamber came a muffled sound that was unmistakably Cinder making some sort of involuntary noise, followed immediately by what sounded like her trying to cover it with a cough.

"You okay over there?" Pyra called through the wall, grateful for the distraction from her own embarrassing reactions.

"Fine!" Cinder replied, her voice pitched slightly higher than usual. "Just—oh no, not there—I mean, that's very effective therapy!"

"Is she always this vocal?" Harmony asked in a low voice.

"You have no idea," Pyra replied through gritted teeth, then immediately let out a sound that was part relief, part surprise, and entirely mortifying. "Did I just—"

"Perfectly normal reaction," Harmony assured her. "Tension release can be quite dramatic."

"Oh f-mmph," came Kindle's voice from another chamber, followed by what sounded like nervous giggling. "I didn't know muscles could do that. Is that supposed to feel so—"

"Kindle!" Ember's voice carried a note of warning from her own room.

"What? I'm just saying the therapeutic benefits are very—oh!" Kindle's explanation was interrupted by what sounded like a small squeak.

"This is mortifying," Cinder announced to the general vicinity. "I'm a serious tactical professional and I'm making sounds like—"

"Like a creaky door?" Pyra suggested helpfully, then immediately made a similar sound herself as Harmony worked on her lower back. "Never mind. Retract that statement."

"Your muscle tension is quite remarkable," Harmony observed, digging her elbow into a particularly stubborn spot above Pyra's hip. "I don't think I've ever worked on muscles so tight."

"Oh, yes, that's it. That's exactly—mmph." Pyra fought to control her reaction, then gave up as the combination of pain and relief overwhelmed any semblance of dignity. "I can't—this is—please don't stop."

"This feels entirely too good," came Ash's serene voice from further down the hall. "Is this what hedonism feels like?"

"Try having your ankles worked on!" Kindle suggested with a yelp that sounded slightly hysterical. "There's muscles connecting your heels to—mmmm, do that again!"

"You're all enjoying yourselves, I take it?" Ember called, though her voice sounded like she was struggling to maintain her own composure under the influence of therapeutic massage.

From the direction of Ember's chamber came a series of muffled moans, followed by silence, then more sounds that could in no way be considered dignified.

"I'm a puddle," Kindle confirmed dreamily. "This could be my new favorite hobby. I'm going to get a massage every week."

"We can't afford massages every week," Ember pointed out, then interrupted herself with a gasp that might have been pain or pleasure. "Oh! No, not there, I can't—actually, do that again. That's exactly it."

"We'll make it a priority," Kindle declared. "Essential team maintenance."

"For morale," Pyra agreed, then let out a yelp that could be mistaken for nothing other than what it was.

"For health," Cinder added, then grunted sharply.

"For ophilosophical well-being," Ash contributed, then made an extended noise that was part hum, part groan, and entirely uncharacteristic for her usual intellectual composure.

"For... oh, right there... for whatever reason we want," Ember concluded, apparently giving up on financial responsibility in favor of therapeutic bliss.

The massage therapy continued for another hour, reducing them to melted puddles of former adventurers who had no intention of complaining, but were also thoroughly losing control of their reactions.

Eventually, the therapists emerged from their chambers looking slightly dazed, while their clients lay motionless under the influence of treatment that had left them utterly incapacitated.

"Ash," Pyra finally called out in a feeble voice, "philosophical questions."

"Mmm?" came Ash's dreamy reply.

"Is hedonism inherently selfish?" Pyra wondered, trying to recapture the capacity for coherent thought, then giving up and enjoying her new existence as a puddle. "And how often can we do this without ruining future appreciation?"

"And do we even want to consider budgetary limits," Ember added in a voice that was muffled by her head being pressed into her massage table's face pillow. "Or is this worth our life savings?"

"Those are important questions," Ash said in a faint voice, then made a sound that was halfway between purring and groaning. "Discuss when capable of thought. Too relaxed to care about anything right now."

"Same," Kindle whispered reverently. "I never knew muscles could feel like this."

"I'm actually crying," Cinder added weakly. "They're happy tears, but there are definitely tears happening now. And also face drool."

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