They do!

Eventually, we found our way out of the tower, the giggles and laughs calming, lest we slip down the steps. Cheekily, once I reached the bottom, Eekaa made it her mission to pick me up, chasing me down the last few steps where I had to dance around her ankles to attempt to evade capture. The orc, of course, won.

Surprisingly, she lifted me even higher, my thighs sitting on each shoulder, comfortably straddling her head while she held on to my knees. From up here, we were taller than the door, having to stoop together to get through it and back out into the street. Playing along with Eekaa’s unplanned piggyback, I quickly directed my Eekaa’s maiden voyage.

“Hm, if I’m going to ride you like this, then you can be my ship in this sea of people. Now, onwards to the medic my beloved!” I playfully said, pointing in the direction I thought they might be. A few people looked up at my childish display, but of course, Eekaa heartily chuckled, walking into the nearby throng of people easily.

Looking out across the sea of faces, it made travel a lot easier, as somehow people just didn’t bother to look up at the kobold. The crowd thinned out while I was happily looking around at my nice new height, an indication that we were already nearing the medic’s building, the grey stone walls uniquely sturdier than the wood and clay everywhere else. The large sign far above the doorway pronouncing it boldly with a crest of the city. Underneath the crest was a single word, health.

Surprisingly, the entrance had not one, but four guards standing in the way, as if it were a gold store, and from the thickly scaled limbs of the large plate-armoured protectors, it may as well have been. Even comparing them to Eekaa, she would do about as much as I could to them, though that’s likely a good thing.

Finally here, Eekaa patted my legs and bent down, allowing me to hop off with a little assistance. Not wanting to waste time, I grabbed her hand and began for the guards, getting a whole step in before Eekaa pulled me back.

Shaking her head, she explained. “No visitors. I stay.” She says, pointing down.

Oh, okay. I slowly nod, anxiety building. I hope I’ll be able to talk to the medics properly...

Taking a breath, I pull Eekaa down, giving her a kiss goodbye before heading toward the guards, their halberds gleaming at me like a menacing challenge. I bet they’d slice me in two if they meant it and that’s exactly what they were there for.

Awkwardly, I approach them, the doorway soon within a few deep steps, and with it, those halberds. A guard from the right side addresses me gruffly, “you aren’t familiar kid. This really the place you’re meant to be?” he says, squatting down to my height. Up close, I can see the scars on his plate helm, and the gleaming draconic eyes underneath. This is a soldier, an actual soldier, nothing like the merc that Ren is, or the loose character that Eekaa is.

Clearing my throat, I took the time to phrase my words well. “I’m no kid. I’ve got business with one of the medic’s inside...” I say, hoping it’s enough to get me inside. Do they do some sort of referral thing for these? I hope not. The guard across from me is breathing more heavily now, his eyes locked on mine. I look away, hiding the look by pretending to itch the base of my horns.

Unsure if it helped, I add, “I’ve the gold for the check up, however much it may be. I don’t-” I get cut off.

“Captain?” Another of the doorway guards suddenly asks. Thankfully, it seems to pull him out of it, just as something in the corner of my vision moves. Did he just go to grab me? He stood back up anyhow, though looking back at Eekaa across the street, she looked as disturbed as I was starting to feel.

Taking a much larger breath than what I’d think is normal, the ‘captain’ reassured his underling, the same one who spoke earlier. Looking back at the captain, it was clear that he was suddenly very uncomfortable, turning away from the group before talking.

“I don’t know what you’re here for, but you best be going inside, pardon the delay.” He said, his voice muted and monotone compared to what it was.

“Right… Will do sir.” I say, considering apologising. It probably wouldn’t help.

Again, I look back across the street, this time giving Eekaa a thumbs up before heading inside, the guards having cleared the doorway for me. I meekly pass through, wanting to get away from both the captain, and the guards in general. They resumed formation the moment I was through, one inside surprising me, tapping the ground with a gleaming mace. It was almost like a warning to get going.

The room was just big enough to fit a respectable amount of people, around twenty standing spaced nicely, though the empty floor spoke to the needlessness of it. It was as if they had much too much money, but I hoped that also meant they’d have no issues treating me. The walls around had lit torches in stone brackets, a pleasantry in the dark building, though not quite as nice as just having a few windows. Ahead of me were a few large desks, one on the left for quick fixes, another on the right for emergencies, and the last and central for the general medics, behind which sat a large old woman, grinning wickedly.

Flanking the desks were two sets of stairs, and two sets of corridors, each leading to their respective wings of the building no doubt. Curiously, there was no sound from other parts of the building here, just the dimmed street noise. The walls must’ve been thick all around, once again like a vault.

Putting on my most hopeful voice, I crossed the room to the woman at the desk, “Excuse me, I’m here to get something looked at? I heard that there’s an apprentice here who might be able to help…”

She didn’t look up to me, delicately writing a letter that must have been important. Grinning ear to ear still, she said, “Oh yes, yes we can get you looked at, that’ll be four gold now, and of course, more later for whatever materials your treatment may cost.”

Baffled at the price, I immediately question her, “four gold? For just a look? No, anyone sane would pay a half at most. One ought to cover the whole ordeal!”

“Well then you’d better find an extra three gold somewhere, hm?” she offhandedly replied.

Before I could question any further, a female elf on the short side ran into the room with a high-pitched voice. “A client?! I knew I saw someone outside, stop haggling and let me treat her!” She exclaimed before turning to face me directly. “Hi, my name is Onalia Lixxus, but I usually go by Lia, in fact, please just call me Lia.” She said, waiting expectantly.

A bit confused, I looked up at the seemingly unbothered woman, and then back to the elf, “uh, hi Lia… You wouldn’t happen to be the apprentice working here?” I asked sceptically. The elf looked almost ecstatic, nodding like a maniac.

“Yep, yes, indeed. Please, right this way! Gods, did anyone ever tell you that you’re cute? Because you are! Oh, you can pay after, here just come with me.” She continued, motioning to follow.

Still not sure on the payment, I continued after her, quickly asking, “Wait, don’t tell me it’ll be four gold, because I’m not spending that type of money just for you to look at me.”

Lia turned on the spot, stopping just before the rightmost stairway. She bent as close to me as I thought possible, her hair dangling in my face. “No no, it’ll be a few silver at most, especially for someone like you…” She whispered, the excited smile still on her face.

Now that she was close, I could smell a soft scent of perfume on her clean white coat. It almost seemed natural? Not really sure what to say, I absently commented something like ‘good’ while she stared at me.

“Anyway, right, business before work.” Lia suddenly said, turning away again and blushing profusely. “Follow me please~” She sung, starting to walk off to the rightmost stairway.

Follow her, I did. Up the stairs was a second story, then a third, and finally the fourth and last floor. It had a much cleaner set of hallways heading it compared to the second and third, if that was even possible, that had a line of clearly labelled doors. Lia disappeared into one ahead of me, the door marked “exam”.

The hallways seemed to be two at either end of the building, intersected by a main middle corridor, the doors spaced to lead into blocks of various rooms. There were enough rooms that there could’ve easily been dozens of patients in the building, and yet the entire place looked and felt like a well-lit dungeon. With that comparison made, I hurried over to the room I saw Lia disappear into.

The room was tidy, bright, and clean, the skylight letting in much more light than the corridors of the rest of the building. Directly under it was a bench of sorts, perfect for sitting or laying, padded by a couple of pillows. Every space of wall was filled with either cabinet, desk or shelf, each shelf neatly filled with various medical items; books or implements mostly. Across the desks, a similarly orderly set of things were laid; notes or materials. Lia crossed the room, tidying up the very few loose things she had before dragging a chair to the bench and sitting.

“Take a seat, you can tell me all about what’s afflicting you, what your woes are, all of the things that’d get you to come here.” Lia said, having fully switched to business mode. Ari crossed my mind, the similarities striking me as odd.

Walking over, I take a seat on the bench in front of her, starting to explain since she probably won’t be bothered just by looking at me. I explain about some of my odd occurrences, about the staring people, the missing lock, and lastly what happened this morning with my tunic… and my tits.

“Oh my! Well, that’s interesting, but it’s a good thing that you’re unharmed still. And hey, you don’t look so bad with the extra weight up top…” She says, proving that point by staring at the new cleavage I’m still getting used to.

Giving her a moment, I look around before clearing my throat, the room a little awkward.

She’s still staring.

Clearing my throat a little louder, I speak up and re-adjust how I’m sitting so that she can get her mind back on track. “So do you think it’s a curse? Because I don’t know too much about curses or anything.” I say, while she adjusts her gaze.

“Hm? Um, yes, I think so, yes, a curse…” she says thinking for a moment. She tilts her head sideways before continuing, “…It’s definitely a curse. The way curses work is that you can only really have one at a time. So basically, I can replace your curse with another one that just doesn’t harm you at all. What would you like?”

Relieved that it is fixable, I quickly ask her to explain, “what do you mean? What can I even have?”

“Oh, right, well, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s not so uncommon that people end up cursed, so when they come to someone like me, I can just swap it out for something easy, like say, sweating perfume, or a stronger body, or even an extendable tongue! It’s really simple actually, and they can be lots of fun. Think of it like… getting a brand of sorts. Just one that makes you a bit more special!” She said, clearly getting excited.

“Wait really? What do I get then… how do I even choose something like that?” I ask, bewildered. Silently, I put two and two together. Eekaa, Ari, even Lia here all have curses don’t they? Eekaa’s tougher body, Ari’s extremely long tongue, Lia’s nice natural scent, they’re all… cursed? It’s almost too bad that you can only have one at a time…

Lia pipes up, a bit of concern showing on her face, “Well, you can take as long as you’d like to decide the curse you want, however, what I’m more worried about is the person who cursed you in the first place. You see, cursing someone without a curse when they don’t want it is very difficult, the type of difficult that means it can't just happen randomly. Usually it's some **** or something super serious. Oh, and, not only have they cursed you, it seems to be with something quite powerful, a reality bending curse at that, if the lock situation is anything to go by. It’s almost as if some divine presence has decided to bless you randomly.” She finishes.

“You’re the second person to say it might be divine, I know you’re a doctor, but I really don’t think you should speculate based on religion. Plus, why would a god bless me if I don’t even believe in them?” I say, figuring it to be a silly idea.

“Oh, yes, good point, now, did you have an idea on what you’d like? I can grab you the book on different curses if you’d like, and you can always just come back to swap it out. I certainly wouldn’t mind…” She says shyly, getting up to grab the book.

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” I say, taking the book from her.