'Where the fuck was Blaine?'

"You don't know?" Guardswoman Vara looked at me like I was stupid. "Sure it does."

‘Huh? What was she talking about? The lieutenant?’

"Rather than arrays, it is the sigils that will prolong your life," her colleague, Elira, clarified. "There’s a reason why powerful beasts live for hundreds or even thousands of years."

‘Oh, the aging thing. Damn it, focus, Korra.’

"I-I see," I said absentmindedly, a completely different matter than the impending wrinkles weighing heavy on my mind.

'Seriously, where was he?'

The annoying feeling of someone watching my ass may have hit the back of my neck as soon as we stepped onto Imperial Square, but none of the stares directed at me belonged to Lieutenant Blaine. I was sure of that. As far as I could tell, most of it came from people in the square curious about who had just come out of the library accompanied by two city guards, but the rest… wait.

'These two women - were they the reason the lieutenant decided to take time off? Did he trust them that much?'

[Guardswoman: 124 sigils]

[Guardswoman: 117 sigils]

Just like I remembered - the arrays and sigils I could only envy, but nothing had changed in the four days I hadn't seen them. Unless they were somehow hiding their info from the Lattice, they were just two ordinary guardswomen.

'No offense meant. Not relying on my inner beast, they would surely beat my ass in a heartbeat. However, could they stand up to a mind mage?'

I'd love to think so.

For all I knew, [Guardswoman] could have been an array that gave its owner a strong will. In a way, it would make sense. Their job was to protect the city, no matter the situation. If they shit their pants at the first sign of a fight or run away, it wouldn't make much sense to have them as city guards.

'Still...'

"Grey! Hey Grey, are you listening?!" the tall auburn-haired guardswoman bellowed, making me twitch in pain.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I am," I blurted out to stop her from shouting again, rubbing my ears. "I am now. S-sorry, got lost in thoughts - what did you ask, Guardswoman Vara?"

"Guardswoman Vara. That has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Oh no, don't let that go to her head. It's fine to call her Vara. I'm Elira, by the way."

"Smooth..." Guards...er, Vara laughed. "Anyway, Vara is fine. Even the street brats call me that - ungrateful bastards."

"W-well, call me Korra, then," I stammered, putting forward my first name, feeling bad not to when they did.

"No, that won't do, Grey. Not when we're on duty."

"Oh, shush, Elira. You don't have to be so uptight all the time."

"I am not..."

"S-so, what did you say before?" I asked, the uneasiness of Lieutenant Blaine's absence getting the better of me.

"Well..."

"That we should go," Elira gushed, throwing a deadly glare at her fellow.

"Oh - OH. So, you're taking me to the barracks? I have to be at City Hall by nine, you know." The barracks weren't that far from Seeker Square, and I already knew the way, so if it was just a matter of answering a few questions, it shouldn't be a problem.

'Besides, Lieutenant Blaine handled everything; this was part of his plan. It was, wasn't it?'

"Don't let El fool you, Korra," Guardswoman Vara - well, just Vara - ignored my question. "She was wondering where you got the wings and the tail. Whether you were naked when we escorted you all the way from the gate to the barracks?"

"That is NOT what I said at all!"

"It is - in a sense. Besides, I'm curious, too. So, how was it?"

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'Huh? Were they serious?'

"Y-you didn't notice?" Ria noticed right away. "I mean, you asked me about my looks, that I don't look like any Terr'den you've ever seen."

"We did?" Vara wondered, brushing back a stray strand of auburn hair as she glanced at her colleague, only to shrug. "Well, you definitely don't look like any I know, and you didn't then either - feathered chest, a hairy butt, big ass ears, and antlers. Who has that, right El?"

"Definitely rare to see," Elira nodded, eyeing me from head to toe, cheeks slightly red.

'Shit!' The curse almost slipped from my lips as a shudder ran from the back of my neck down my spine all the way to the tip of my tail. It wasn't one of the bad vibes mostly haunting my nape, though. This one was - well, oddly pleasant. Like, when you're cold and come to a fire, that kind of feeling.

"W-well," I said, shaking away the bristled hair her look gave me. "I had nothing when I came to Castiana."

While Elira blushed a little more, Vara gave her a chuckle. "Guess your brother did not follow protocols and did not give her a pat-down. Damn, I can't wait to tell him - the look on his face. Is he gonna be as red as you, El?"

"Fuck you, Vara. Let's just move."

"You Hakhes are sure to be fun to be around. But, you are right. The back alley awaits."

"W-wait! Hold on! What back alley?!"

"That one where you got mugged, duh," replied Vara, nudging me to get moving.

"Why there? Why not the barracks?"

"Don't ask me. We just got orders to take you there. Come on, move."

"Orders from who?" I asked, yielding to another nudge, albeit moving slowly. This whole thing just didn't sit right with me. In fact, it didn't make any sense.

"Who else? From "Sergeant" Elias Hakhe himself."

"My brother. You met him at the gate. Look, Grey, it's nothing unusual. The crime scene can help you remember something you otherwise wouldn't. Like I said, it's just a questioning thing."

'Make me remember my ass. What about the trauma it will remind me of?'

Seriously, just thinking about that place gave me goosebumps, let alone wanting to go near it.

"Can't you just take me to the barracks? I'll answer any questions they want me to answer there."

"Sorry, Grey. Not our orders," Vara said, pointing to one of the many alleyways leading out of the Imperial Square. "That way."

"Well, we could take her there if she wants."

"Tits! What's up with you today, El? First, the books instead of shagging, and now you're willing to flout orders? You should be the responsible one, not me. Fuck! No. No barracks. I can't risk your brother complaining to the Captain about me again and getting another pay cut this week, El. You know it."

Elira closed her eyes for a moment, sighing. "You should have thought of that before you put the laxative potion in his ale."

"The look on his face was worth it," Vara beamed, chuckling at the memory. I, on the other hand, couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was reluctant to budge and take me to barracks just because she fucked up? What stupid reason was that?

"T-Then… then say you didn't find me. I will go to the barracks tomorrow, right after work." I didn't need to see the look Vara gave me to know how lame that sounded.

"If I got a copper each time I heard that, I'd be rich."

"It wouldn't add up as much as to a silver coin, Vara," Elira remarked.

"Killjoy! I just wanted to say it at least once."

"S-sorry, I don't mean to, but... am I under arrest? Because if not, I must be somewhere else." Another lame excuse, although justified. But so what? Fuck it! I didn't want to go anywhere near that alley.

"Nine o'clock at the City Hall, right?" Elira asked, showing her fine memory.

"Yeah, I already paid the deposit for the lesson with an instructor," I said, hesitating to reveal the man's name. It wasn't hard to imagine them not believing me. 'How could an ordinary chick like me get a lesson with the famous Deckard?' On that note, though... well, it was definitely worth a shot. "I'll demand the City Guards pay me back if I miss it."

Hearing that, Vara stopped in her tracks so suddenly, I almost bumped into her. "How much?"

"T-ten silvers."

"Tits! I mean, it's not much, but Travis will definitely have my ass."

"W-who's Travis?"

"Captain Rayden's assistant. Warrant Officer Travis Seamane," Elira explained. "He's in charge of a lot, including the finances of the entire Castiana City Guards. By the way, who are you taking lessons from? There are more expensive instructors, but ten pieces of silver as an advance payment isn't a little either."

"Like that matters," Vara grumbled before I had a chance to answer. "Look Grey, I get you. I don't like going back to the place I fucked before, either. But could you do me a favor and tell them it's not my - well, our fault? I mean, you might even make it. The alley isn't too far."

Elira nodded. "True. And if we..."

"What do you mean, not too far? That alley is on the other side of the city. In the First District."

"Look, Grey, if you're trying to tell me some bullshit..."

"No, I'm telling the truth."

"Are you sure, Grey? You're new to Castiana. Maybe you got it wrong," Elira suggested, trying to think about it logically.

"Ask at the barracks. They must have it written down there." My sense of direction may have been bad, but my memory was not. "I got mugged walking from Zuzum's Bathhouse in the northern part of the city, not down here in the Third District."

"Zuzum's Bathhouse? That shithole?"

"Yes," I said, nodding to Vara without a hint of shame, if anything, glad she knew that place.

"But if what you say is true, why would they send us here? Elias wouldn't..."

"That fucking dickhead! I bet that's his payback for the potion. When I see him, I'm gonna... huh? What is it, Grey? What are you staring at?"

Following my gaze, both guardswomen looked down the street to our left. But unlike me, they failed to see what I did. An ivy-covered house and the street Timmy led me down.

Things began to fall into place...