Lament of the Lost

 

‘You can do this, Korra.’

‘You’re gonna be okay.’

‘Everyone who went in before you was.’

‘...and they came out more than just relieved and happy.’

Great, right? Then why the bloody heck couldn’t I shake the feeling that I would never leave this [Identity Verification Room] again? It wasn’t a small room, I would even say bigger than the one in the gatehouse, and thanks to the wooden lining of the walls, it didn’t feel that unwelcoming. 

‘Was it the windows?’

Or rather, the lack thereof that gave me the creeps? That would make sense. A room without a single window was just weird. But that in no way meant it was gloomy, let alone dark. A chandelier of some kind of magic crystals instead of light bulbs or candles brightened the room with more than enough light. 

‘No!’ 

The uniformed man sitting behind the desk in the middle of the room must have been the source of my unease - that and the guilt of withholding the truth eating away at me.

[Guardsman: ₪₪ sigils]

Although his array would suggest so, the man was nothing like the city guards I had so far met. The number of sigils he had earned in his life had far exceeded the scope the Lattice allowed me to see. And judging by the two runes, my own experience, and the knowledge Scoresby had shared with me, by at least ninety-six sigils. 

Not that I needed the Lattice to tell me how dangerous this man was. My annoying instincts urging me to be on guard did the job just as well. Quite an odd feeling, to be honest, somewhat useful in a way, though.

“Please sit down,” the man pointed to one of the stools across from the desk. The fact that there were no chairs here spoke volumes about who they were more or less dealing with in this room. Nevertheless, as a shudder ran through my body at the thought of what awaited me here, my eyes scanning the floor for blood, I did as he said and took the seat.

“Judging by your appearance and the description in the report,” the man said, tapping the paper in front of him. “I take it you’re Korra Grey?”

‘Were there more like me running around the city?’

But of course, I swallowed the sarcastic remark and nodded instead. 

“Y-yes, I am Korra Grey. Huh? What the...?”

The words slipped off my tongue a little too easily - as if I couldn’t wait to tell him. 

‘Shit!’

The feeling wrapping my mind was all too familiar.

“No need to panic, ma’am,” the man spoke, noticing my distress while sounding rather impressed. “What I was going to inform you of before we began is that this room is equipped with rune formations casting soothing and truth fields. In other words, it will calm you down and make you speak the truth. Is that alright with you?”

“No.”

While I covered my big mouth with my hands, the corners of the man’s mouth lifted slightly. “Fear not; hardly anyone is. However, I must ask you if you understand what I have said before we proceed.”

‘The bloody heck? I sure did!’

They basically put a slave collar around my neck. The coercion to speak the truth tickling my mind was way too close to what I had been living with for over a year and a half. It made me sick and want to resist it - really, really badly.

“Yesss, I did,” I growled, failing to get the piss out of my voice.

“Good.” The man nodded, unperturbed. “I’m Warrant Officer Pinescar and I’m here to verify your identity needed to grant you the citizenship you’re applying for. Anything you wish to tell me before we continue?”

I’d have to be stupid not to understand what he was getting at. This was the time to spill the beans before he had to pry the truth out of my mouth. Time to tell him what I really was.

Annoyingly calming my mind myself with yet another runic shit in the form of my own weave, I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “I’m...I am not half-Terr’den.”

“Oh, you’re not?”

“A-actually, I never said I was. I just...went with it.”

“I see. Care to tell me, then, what you are?”

“Human. I am human,” I said, biting down on my lower lip and anxiously awaiting his reaction. Much to the city guard’s credit and my bewilderment, though, he simply nodded, taking note of it. “Anything else?”

‘That was it? No “don’t spout bullshit” or “you clearly are not”?’

Maybe cases like mine weren’t so rare after all. Yet somehow, I doubted, hoped perhaps, that there were many with my origins. So I shook my head and kept the fact of me not being from Eleaden to myself for now.

“Very well. If there is - more, we’ll find out anyway. Now place your hand on the identification station, please.”

Following the movement of his hand, my eyes fell on what looked like a tablet carved from obsidian and set in an ornate brass frame placed on the desk in front of me. Many runic lines were carved into the black surface and a few more into the brass.

“W-what will it do to me?”

“Nothing, I promise. It will let me read your grid and verify who you are.”

In other words, he would see that I am truly human and not a beast. With that in mind, I placed my hand on the black surface without hesitation. Instantly, the runes of the identification station beneath my palm lit up, and what could not be better described as a hologram of my grid appeared hovering above it.

─◇────────────────────────────────────────

Name: Korra Grey

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Age: 27

1st Array: Slave

Master: None

Sigils: 97 - ○○○○○○

─◇────────────────────────────────────────

Weaves: 1st Array (6/6)

Eleaden Standard Language (General): ….. 15 → 18 glyphs - ⦿⦿

Indomitable Will (Slave): ............................ 108 → 111 glyphs - ⦿⦿⦿⦿

Thrifty Drinker (General): .......................................... 3 glyphs - ⦿

Equilibrium (General):......................................... 6 → 7 glyphs - ⦿

Hunger Fortitude (General):........................................5 glyphs - ⦿

Spatial Domain (General):................................. 9 → 10 glyphs - ⦿ 

─◇────────────────────────────────────────

‘Shit! Shit, shit, shit!’ 

Despite what I thought he would see, there between us hovered even a listing of my weaves - pathetic as they were. Sure, in the few days in the forest and throughout the trip to Castiana, I picked up a few glyphs here and there, but I haven’t used the [Thrifty Drinker] since I found the brook and the same for the [Hunger Fortitude]. On the other hand, Spatial Domain was only two glyphs away from forming a second circle, and I’ve gotten better at speaking Standard as well.

Anyway, sweating buckets, I waited patiently for Warrant Officer Pinescar to take the whole mess in - for him to see that I wasn’t lying.

“Interesting, truly interesting,” he said, a little thoughtful and puzzled, but quickly explained. “A lot of Halfs have the tendency to claim to be human, especially those whose Terr traits are not so prominent. Only a rare few tell the truth, though.”

“I thought...that I couldn’t lie here?”

“I didn’t say that. But please refrain from doing so. Not only will you find it very difficult to lie, it won’t do you any good. Now, we will come back to your race, but as there is none listed I have to ask - and I realize this may be hard for you - who was your last master?”

The breath caught in my throat once more. No doubt, he wanted to know if I had killed that bastard.

‘I wish I had.’

However, much to my annoyance, the shitty bug stopped me from doing so - a bug that knew the deranged asshole’s full name.

“Frederic Ambrose Dungreen.”

Warrant Officer Pinescar’s eyes widened as the name slowly sank in. “The Alchemist of Potions?”

“Yeah, I think...I think that’s what they called him.” At least, that was the name the shoelace bitch mentioned.

“Well, ma’am, I’m afraid I will have to ask you to hold on for a moment. This will require Captain Rayden’s presence.”