Back to the academy.

  The more Azi's mind dwelled on it the more she realized she hated the idea. Regardless of the circumstances, crawling back to the ones who threw her out left a sour taste in her mouth.

  Could she slip away? Returning to the city and starting the long journey home had been her original pn after all.

  By now they had entered a section of the forest she recognized. The trees had started becoming sparser, giving way to further sightlines and patches of grass. The road was only around a hundred yards ahead of them, two if she cut left and headed towards the city.

  The two ahead of her were locked in a heated debate over a topic she didn't quite get. If there was any chance to sneak away it was now.

  Slowing her pace Azi began to fall behind the two students blissfully unaware of their followers' absence. When the pair had passed behind a gradual hill Azi stopped. She waited a few more moments to make sure they had forgotten her before she grinned.

  "Well, that was easier than I expected." Triumphant in her efforts Azi turned in the direction of the city. The forest still obscured most of her vision, but the faint trails of smoke that escaped out of chimneys.

  Dalia.

  A feeling of relief welled within her. Azi wanted to be a spiritualist, not a wanderer. The ordeal in the forest had exhausted every ounce of her desire to be outside for a good while. She exited the forest, stepping onto a familiarly muddy road and making her way towards the city.

  = = =

  Upon reaching the gates Azi was brimming with excitement. A shower, food, as much to drink as she could get her hands on. Thoughts of comfort and warmth kept her happy as she stepped up to the checkpoint entering the city.

  "Name and reason for entry," the guard manning the checkpoint asked in a deadened tone. He gave Azi a quizitive gnce, eyeing the distinct insignia of the academy woven into the cloak.

  "Azi. Rest and hopefully a bath." Azi knew the drill, every city she had ever been to operated in much the same way. She pced her hand upon a silver tablet inid into the counter of the checkpoint. It hummed with a gentle glow for a brief moment before becoming dormant.

  "You may enter. Welcome to the shimmering city of Dalia," the guard stated. A line the guard had no doubt said thousands of times.

  Stepping through a barely visible barrier of energy, Azi had entered the city proper. The dirt road leading from the academy gave way to a uniform brick road. The road extended as far as she could see with a plethora of brick and mortar buildings lining it.

  "Now then…" Azi stepped off to the side into a taller building. A few of the folks passing her eyed strange gnces but she paid them to heed. It wasn't unheard of for Wanderer's to return to the cities naked or worse. Was it the Academy's sigil? Not important.

  What was important was where she would head next.

  She had a few options for her first stop in the city. As tempting as a bath sounded, the new addition to her body might pose a challenge trying to enter the public baths scattered around the city. As would her new appearance.

  Perhaps she could visit the vaults. Proving her identity would be hard but unless she had truly possessed another person her spirit should have remained the same. She had left herself enough money in case something had gone wrong at the academy.

  Or maybe she should visit the Wanderer's guild. Hiring an escort to accompany her home wouldn't be cheap but it was almost certainly necessary around these parts. And with her earlier problems she wasn't going to be tempting fate anytime soon.

  A bath, nothing else comes first.

  Azi would eventually need to tick all the stops on her checklist but getting clean was a top priority. Money could wait, an escort could wait. But clean feet? That couldn't.

  She left the retive comfort of the shaded benches and headed for the public baths. There were a few she had visited before but one in particur called her name.

  Being the 'Shimmering City' Dalia had a certain reputation for its cleanliness. From the modernistic architecture and sanitation that put even most noble estates to shame. Dalia was a beacon of progress and forward thought.

  As such, public baths and regur sweeps of the city kept the streets and people clean. For what bath Azi had chosen? It was simple; The Blessed Rains.

  Where most baths were communal, a rge open hot spring and stations for people to shower. The Rains offer private, more intimate showers. Of course, they were still shared but it was with at most two other individuals.

  It was a ways from the gate though, Azi passed by both the Vaults and the Wanderer's Guild on her way there. Every step she felt the grime between her toes digging deeper into her soul. She liked to be clean. She wanted to be clean. Roughing it in the forest was not to her liking.

  Waltzing through the city Azi tried to ignore the stares. Whether it was her strange attire or the appearance of a beauty only the gods could have she didn't know. But the attention was wearing on her.

  For a girl who had always been in the shadow, the spotlight was not something she was prepared for. Though, the attention wasn't the only thing stirring her thoughts.

  Azi felt she must be a pervert. Every set of eyes that shot a gnce her way. The men and women that starred agape as she quickly approached her destination. It felt good.

  It was a sensation she couldn't describe and one she certainly had never felt before. She could feel their want, the desire swimming around her as more and more noticed her presence.

  To make matters worse, the attention began to direct somewhere else. Azi blessed the stars. The cloak was baggy and helped to hide a growing problem.

  "Almost there Azi… just… just breath…" She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.Having ignored it in the forest the want deep within her had returned tenfold.

  "Look at her!"

  "What I wouldn't give…"

  The voices around her faded as she doubled her pace, almost breaking into a sprint. She was almost there, just around this corner and she would be alone.

  Rounding the corner she spotted it, a well worn sign bearing the logo of the Rains. A nymph under a raincloud. The final stretch before her, Azi counted the steps.

  Nearly breaking the door as she rushed into the building she approached the desk, her eyes half lidded and full of lust. The young woman working the corner jumped, startled at the sudden intrusion.

  "W-Welcome to the Blessed Rains. Will that be…" The woman paused, her face donning a tint of red. "Would you like, uh, a private room? We have a few avaible."

  The other main reason Azi had chosen this particur business. While other baths would have thrown out any clients that engaged in particurly sultry behaviour. The Rains was different

  Whilst not explicitly advertised, everyone in Dalia knew what a private room at the Rains meant. Privacy was scarce, especially for Wanderers and the poor. The Rains offered a closed door and no questions asked so long as you weren't too loud.

  "Yes. Now," Azi demanded. "Can you… put it on a tab? I'll come by ter to pay."

  Speaking was difficult, the gnawing need in her groin ached with every movement. The rugged cloth brushing against her sent shivers down her legs as she fought against the desire.

  "Uhm…" The woman looked away. Of course, Azi hadn't considered that they may turn her away. She cursed under her breath for getting ahead of herself. "I apologize but…"

  "I'll cover it," A rugged voice pitched. Turning around, a woman stood behind Azi. The stranger grinned, holding up a small pouch of coins for the clerk. "But you gotta share with me."

  Azi contempted her choices, the Vaults were only a few streets over. She could leave and return. Shifting her legs, another jolt rocked her body. Could she make it without colpsing outside?

  "Who are you?" No one offered to pay for another without ulterior motives. Had the woman followed her? What if she worked with the men from before?

  "Me? Well, I'm…"