They'd led him through the portal to a bath alright, the handsy bastards. And what a bath it was, so much so that he couldn't help but gape with an open mouth. It was a feat of superior architecture and engineering that the collective talent of humanity was not capable of yet, perhaps not ever. He knew a couple of architects and interior designers who'd kill each other with butter knives just to get a glimpse of something like this. 

It was the type of splendor and extravagance that one never got used to; at least not someone who wasn't born to it. The baths were the size of a baseball field, making him momentarily question if this was a communal bathing area for armies before concluding it was too grand for that. Golden stairs descended into multiple mini-pools separated by -that's right, you guessed it- golden columns. The water in the pools -six, eight, thirteen, oh he he was losing count how many they were- was so clear, Kai could see the white marble floor beneath as if the water was not there. 

It wasn't lights or braziers lighting the spacious baths, but rather the luminescent, arched ceilings. They were completely covered with bioluminescent blue-green fungi like that type that covered the walls of caves. It was breathtaking. 

But the true marvel of the baths was a waterfall. 

That's right. 

A goddamned waterfall. 

The arched, glowing ceilings gave way to a tiny, gentle waterfall at the center of the baths whose sparkling water spilled into a small lake-sized depression. He could only assume that the waterfall's water was coming from somewhere on the floor above them, but figuring out how that worked was beyond him.  

"The water in the pools comes from a hot ocean-floor spring. The waterfall is the ocean's water being channeled into the palace," One of the triplets said, answering one of the questions crowding his head.

Ocean. 

"You mean... we're not in the Black Sea anymore?" 

"Yes."

He closed his eyes and waited for the roaring in his ears to subside. 

"Please step into a pool so we may begin assisting you." 

Kai opened his eyes. "I can do it myself." 

"Out of the question."

They wrestled some more. If he was to be coerced into having something be done to him that he really didn't want, he was not going to make it easy for them to do it.  

"How are you so freakishly strong?" The triplet shoving at his back in the direction of a pool grunted from behind him. 

Kai didn't feel strong at all. 

Eventually, they managed to herd him into one of the pools. He nearly slipped on the third stair and would have fallen straight onto his ass and broken his spine if it weren't for the three pairs of hands keeping him steady.

"Please be careful. If any harm comes to you, then we will suffer gravely for it." Genuine fear flashed in the triplets' eyes, and for a moment, their stoical masks fell to reveal the terror hidden beneath. 

He'd suspected it upon meeting them, as if a part of him had sensed it, but he'd had no way of knowing for sure, so he kept his mouth shut. Now that they were standing so close, he took the time to scan them one by one, taking note of everything.

Their hair and eye color were... normal. Most of the merfolk he'd seen floating outside of his cage had vibrant or flamboyant hair colors, and all of them had those unnerving shark-like eyes. The triplets, however, had normal eyes. Human eyes. 

They were dressed differently as well. Much less lavishly, though the garments of their clothes were still some of the finest he'd seen. They wore matching grey-brown woolen shirts and pants fitted to their bodies. He noted for the first time that their feet were bare.

Each triplet had one piece of unique gold jewelry, and he was relieved to realize that he could now tell them apart with their jewelry. 

As he assessed them, he determined that they lacked that quality he'd seen in merpeople.

"Who are you people?" he asked once they released him, briefly meeting each of their eyes. They surrounded him from every direction, no doubt to ensure that he didn't make a run for it. "Are you like them... or are you like me?" 

Every single one of them avoided his gaze. 

 He was now certain of it. 

He needn't have bothered to lower his voice because of the waterfall's roar, but he still said in a voice low enough for only the triplets to hear, "You're human too?" 

"What do you mean by 'too'? You're nothing like us." Said the triplet with sole gold earring in his left ear. 

Kai was shocked into silence. He'd forgotten. He's completely and utterly forgotten what he truly was. He still thought of himself as a full-fledged human being. 

"Watch what you say to him!" The bangle-wearing triplet hissed at his brother, he seemed to regret his choice of words. 

"N-No, he's right. I'm not human." It hurt to admit it out loud, but it was the truth that he could never escape. Better to resign himself to it now than risk an identity crisis later on. 

He was suddenly very exhausted, despite having just woken from a deep slumber. 

Seeing that he'd already been stripped of all clothing, they began to wash him. Kai gritted his teeth and forced himself to bear it all with admirable docility that contradicted his previous behavior. In the commotion, he'd forgotten his state of nudity. Now, as three pairs of hands ran over his body with towels and pitchers he hadn't seen them carry, he was made painfully aware of it. 

Each triplet handled a task as Kai stood knees deep in the center of the pool. The triplet with the earring held a golden pitcher which he filled with water and poured over Kai. The bangle triplet wiped and cleaned Kai with a towel. The ring-wearing triplet soaped him. 

"I can do this myself," he repeated tiredly. 

"If you do, there will no longer be a need for us." One of them said quietly, too quietly. 

Kai was afraid that he knew what he meant by that. 

"Fine, but touch my balls and I'll break your hands."

Much to his relief, their touch was brisk and perfunctory. 

I guess it's not the worst thing I've been made to bear, Kai thought wryly. 

 After another few minutes of being soaped, soaked, and wiped, Bangle Triplet said, "Please soak in the water. It'll be good for these..." He waved at the tentacle marks marring Kai's skin. 

Intrigued, Kai looked down at the crystal-clear water of the pool, then at his body. 

Was it just him or had the marks faded?

"Alright." He waded into the deepest part of the pool. The water reached his shoulders. Kai immersed himself in the water. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped him; the water was so scalding hot that it bordered on intolerable, yet it felt good. Evidently the steamy heat was good for him. It loosened his locked muscles and took away some of his fatigue and tension. 

His eyes drifted closed of their own accord. 

And opened when he felt the triplets approach him minutes later. Their contrite faces sparked a flare of alarm in his heart.  

"What is it?" 

"We must prepare you," they said in unison. 

His eyes dropped to a gold container in the hands of the triplet standing in the middle.

"What is that?" Warily. 

"Oils." 

Kai turned around, placed his hands on the bath's edge and pushed himself out of the hot baths, streaming water. 

As he wiped the water from his eyes, he said, "Exactly what part of me do you intend to prepare? And what are you preparing me for?" 

They exchanged looks. 

"Ah." Kai had already figured as much. "Alright, then. Let's get this over with," he said as he put up his fisted hands. 

Oh, what Kai wouldn't give to have his sword right about now.