They make it to Aglia when the sun begins to rise over the city and its buildings. The first person Lir notices as the guards let them pass is a young woman with a dirty curtain wrapped around her waist. He wonders if it is some kind of trend to use unconventional cloths as skirts, though the question is soon swept away by a guard who grabs him by the shoulder. “Wait a minute,” the man tells Tobias, who turns around and does his best to look unaffected by the situation, even though Lir can see the drop of sweat that has formed against his brow. “I said you could enter, but your lady friend over here doesn’t have proof of her identity.”

Lady? Lir raises a brow. It occurs to him that the man may be losing his vision, so he does not bother correcting him. It would be embarrassing for them both, though, mostly for the guard.

“A-ah. I’m sorry, my cousin actually came here in order to get her papers remade.”

Her papers?

Whatever’s wrong with this guard, Tobias sure is great at playing along with his strange whims.

The guard’s grip tightens against his shoulder. “And what happened to her old ones?”

Tobias shrugs. “Lost in a fire I’m afraid. Was a terrible night.” He sighs. “Neither of her parents made it out alive. Thankfully though, she survived, and she is now under my care.”

There is a moment of silence before the guard finally releases Lir. “Fine,” he snaps. “But you’re lucky your mentor Archie is well known to Aglia, Tobias of Arktos village—or else, she would have gone straight to the dungeons.”

Lir turns around and gives him a curt bow. “Thank you for your generosity, uh… sir,” he mutters.

“Don’t thank me, kid.” He waves Lir away. “Just bring me your papers before you leave. I can overlook this once and give you a warning, but I won’t be so understanding the second time.”

“R-right.” Lir takes a step backwards and almost tumbles to the floor. “My apologies.”

When he turns to face the street once more, the girl with the curtain-skirt is gone.

Tobias grabs his hand and leads him far from the guard and Aglia’s entrance. “This way,” he whispers. “Archie’s home shouldn’t be more than a ten-minute walk.”

They fall silent.

It is a lovely place, Aglia. There is much life bustling about in the streets, merchants trying to strike deals with the more fortunate, and noblemen prancing about in their carriages with horses covered in markings made by silver paint.

In fact, Lir is so smitten by what he sees that he does not notice another young woman, who is running toward him at full speed with a bunch of roses in her arms.

They slam into each other. Hard. “Shit,” Lir curses under his breath. He winces and tries to rub the pain out of his shoulder away.

“Oh, Gods! I’m so sorry, milady!” The young woman gasps. She holds out a hand for him to take. “I didn’t hurt you badly, did I?” But Lir gets up on his own accord—not out of spite, but because there is too much of a risk for the make-up applied across his knuckles to be swept away, if she were to hold his skin a little too tightly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, all the while wondering why she, too, is claiming he is more woman than man.

The woman hands him a rose. “Please, accept it as an apology. Good day to you.” And as quickly as she had come, she leaves in a frantic, hurried run.

Lir glances down at the flower. He does not know what use he could possibly make of it, so, he does the next best thing and slips it into Tobias’s hand. “Here,” he tells his mentor, whose face is suddenly a tad flushed now, for reasons Lir ignores. “You can give it to your mentor once we arrive,” Lir adds.

Tobias slides the rose in his bag and chuckles. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, but thank you for the thought.” He glances at Lir. “You do not know much about Aglia’s traditions, do you?”

“Huh?” Lir furrows his brows. “Of course not. They don’t teach us that at school. You didn’t teach me either.”

His mentor sighs. “True… sorry, it was a futile question. I only thought that maybe…”

“Yes?”

“Your friends. Some of them had visited before. I figured they might have spoken to you about it.”

Lir bites his lip. His head hangs low as he thinks back to those times. “They weren’t really my friends.” He could always tell they were bothered by his presence, especially after he overheard them talking to Wolf about him being boring because he could not run as they did, hunt with them, too.

He’s just a bookworm.

Leave him, they say he’ll die soon anyway.

“Can I ask you something?” Lir blurts, upon noticing Tobias is making the face he usually wears when he regrets having said something.

The heartbreak that had been swarming in mentor’s features fades with the subtle laughter that escapes past his lips. “Lir, how many times must I tell you that there is no need to ask about questions that must be asked?” He smirks, then tilts his head, and it does strange things to the butterflies that swarm inside Lir’s stomach. “There’s no shame in simply speaking your needs.” But there is, Lir thinks. There is shame, because what Lir truly needs, is him.

“Why…” Lir averts his gaze. He’s thankful for the make-up, that surely covers up the heat which has risen to his face. “Why do people here think I am a woman? I do not dress like one. I do not smell like one. I don’t understand.”

His mentor sighs again. “I’m afraid most of Aglia’s people have lost what once bound them to magic. They do not listen anymore. It is a culture full of… very visual cues.”

“But—” Lir pauses and motions to his attire. “Is this not visual enough?”

“It is. It is…” Tobias clears his throat. “However...” He squeezes his elbow. “Regretfully, they do not judge on clothes alone. They… How can I say this—”

“Just tell me, Tobias! It can’t be that bad.”

A crease forms amid his mentor’s brow. He shakes his head and huffs once more. “For… reasons I ignore and do not understand, they have decided that the soul does not matter, and that only the body should be an indication of what a person is or isn’t—regardless of what said person feels they are. Of course, they do not have the ritual as we do either… though I doubt they would listen to such—”

“Ew.” Lir cringes back in disgust. “Seriously?” He starts to walk again. His shaken steps are filled with disbelief. “I don’t believe this. These people are barbaric!” he blurts, before he stares back at Tobias, agape. “How could you live here for this many moons without losing your mind?”

“Well,” Tobias scratches the back of his head. “I suppose I have traits associated with what they consider stereotypically male. Though otherwise,” he nods, “it might have been a difficult stay, yes. But don’t worry. My mentor—Aglian as he may be—is well-versed in our customs. You will not have to pretend around him.”

Pretend, the word tastes sour against Lir’s tongue as he nods in response to his mentor’s statement.

What seemed like a beautiful city is only but a disappointment now. And although Lir still enjoys the view, his heart sinks a little with the news he has just learned.

He hopes they will find a cure soon.

He hopes he will be human again like Tobias claims.

He hopes… that he will not have to eat his mentor’s heart, as the man in question stops him in his tracks and says, “We’re here!”