"The big idea," said a voice just behind Morgan, "is none of your concern."

The voice had no emphasis, no emotion or feeling to it. It was almost robotic in its emptiness and held nothing but information, passed on in the form of words. Just as suddenly as it was said, the body that followed the voice appeared onto the deck of the small rowing boat. He was tall, with an indeterminable age. His long black hair was tied into a neat ponytail behind him and his features were almost reptilian, with dark green eyes that, like his voice, were blank. His face, however, was showing a look of hostility - of disgust - towards the children. He wore an odd, traditional-looking Japanese outfit made of silk. "Follow me. Do not wander off. If you do, you're liable to getting killed." he said idly, tossing out the 'death' part with a little more volume to his voice, just to make sure everyone heard him right.

Just as he gave out the order, a bright light appeared on the horizon.

[hider=The light][img=http://www.pepper.ph/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/1.jpg]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArsV7AFZBHY#t=106]Dragon Boy - Spirited Away Soundtrack[/url][/hider]

It was some sort of grand, brightly-lit palace in the dark. The golden glow pierced the night sky like a large firefly, decorated ornately with red walls and traditional looking screens. Fairy lights were scattered around the trees, and a single lantern shone brightly on the top of the tower just behind the castle-like building. A large bridge arched into view, leading towards a bank. There was another boat also headed to this building, an it was monstrously huge; Like a cruise ship, covered in paper lanterns. The people inside were difficult to make out from this distance, but perhaps the denizens of the boat caused the reptilian man concern, as he flicked his wrist and the boat lurched forward at a much faster pace.

The reptilian man turned back to the children. This time, however, he crouched down so he was eye level with all of them. His voice carried that adult-like urgency, something that would instinctively put most children on edge. "Listen to me carefully, humans. You must follow me, and stay close to me. The things inside of that bathhouse won't hurt you, but soon there will be guests-" the reptilian man waved an arm to the massive boat they were overtaking, "-and they WILL kill you. You will refer to me as Master Yoru. Do not ask me any questions, because I refuse to answer them. Do not say a word when you're in the bathhouse, and avoid eye-contact with the workers. And again, stay close."

There was a jarring thud as the boat scraped into the bank. The barrier disappeared suddenly, allowing the children to step off of the boat. Master Yoru went first, before holding a hand out to help the children out. Should they accept his helping hand, he'd flinch a little, as if he was picking up something revolting, but help the children out all the same. The water, now a pitch black in colour due to the darkness, was ominous enough without anyone falling into it.

Yoru strode forward with purpose, not really giving the children time to catch up with him. Every so often, however, he'd pause a little so that the children can catch up with his larger strides across the bridge. Despite all of his hostility, it seems he really did want them to stay as close as possible...on the other hand, however, he deemed it appropriate to only glance disdainfully over her shoulder at the dawdling kids before walking on.

Once the group passed the curtains, a scene of chaos unravelled before them. Man were running about in white cloth robes, almost like a uniform, carrying brooms and cloths and sometimes massive plates of food that looked too delicious to be real. Upon closer inspection, these chubby men ere almost toad-like in appearance, with pencil moustaches and wide-spaced eyes, and very large mouths. Just as suddenly as a closer inspection has occurred, it might be revealed to the sharper children that they really ARE frog-people, some of them looking more toad-like than the others. Along with them were a group of ladies in pink uniforms, scrubbing the floors, wiping the poles, carrying buckets of soapy water to and fro. The din was awful. Everyone was yelling at each other to either help them or get out of the way. A team of chubby girls with very small tufts for eyebrows giggled at their own joke, wearing ornate-looking robes that were ever-so-slightly low-cut for them.

Silence fell as soon as the children stepped in. A hundred pairs of eyes stared at them as the workflow paused. Toad-like faces gaped, the girls stopped laughing, the uniformed ladies stood there with cloths dripping water onto the floor...and then Yoru spoke out, his voice ringing in the sudden silence. "The first one to say 'Human' gets the Big Tub. Now get back to work." he yelled, breaking the spell over the workers. Reluctantly, the toad-things went rushing away again, but the buzz of conversation hung in the air like angry wasps. Clearly the arrival of the children was expected, but not so suddenly. "With me," ordered Master Yoru.

[hider=Floor One][img=http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0p5yx8WhA1qf0ojso1_500.jpg][/hider]
He strode past the reception desk and it became apparent how huge this place was. Bamboo screens separated each area with small bath mats upon the entrances, revealing what appears to be large bath-tubs. The walls were painted with stylized renditions of trees. Above all of them, were row upon row of small screened-off rooms, some of which were producing very strange shadows from behind them. Paper lanterns decorated these 'upper' floors,and the room itself was brightly lit and huge. Everything about it screamed opulence and Japanese culture. Of course, there would be barely any time to take all of this in, as they went straight for a lift. "Everybody in," called master Yoru. Once everyone was crammed into the lift, he pulled the lever right up to the top floor and the lift trundled away.

There was nothing but a stony silence from Master Yoru. After a while, he decided to perhaps say something. "This place is a bath-house. Things come here to get washed and bathed. Once we reach the top floor, take off your socks and shoes if you have them, and leave them in the elevator. Lady Katashi is waiting for you. Do not be rude, else she will punish you severely."

There was a pause, a silence in which the children could talk for several minutes. Then the door opened up to another floor - if any of them thought that the first floor was fancy, then it was nothing compared to the upper regions of the bathhouse. The room was just about as huge as the first floor, but covered with massive golden pillars, gems sparkling in the walls, paintings and patterns all over the walls and floor and lamps. There was a plush red carpet under their feet, and two huge doors lay before them - closed - with a single golden knocker on the left side beside the handle. Master Yoru made sure everyone had taken off their shoes and socks, peered hopelessly at Blake's filthy feet, and rushed them outside of the lift. The lift doors shut behind them and the lever to call to lift clicked as it jammed in place, keeping the children on the top floor. The doors stood ominously before them, but they didn't have to go in just yet, they still had time to talk to each other.