[Acumin] When an Identity Goes Missing...

[Aydyn Blair]

Fourth Cycle in Ponutis
Season of Spring

She'd nearly forgotten about it, almost, but not quite. That she'd been taken into slavery was hard to forget--the brand on her ear was enough to ensure that she remembered--but it was the fire with its flames eating at her personal posessions that she'd been quick to try and push behind her. She had, thankfully, not been carrying much at the time--money, her knapsack, clothing...her visa. It was the visa she had not thought too long and hard on. Over the eras it had become an extension of her, a part of who she was that she carried around without a second thought. It was important and she knew that, which is why it never left her, and almost she had lost it before to a giant. A giant. She'd tried hard to forget that, too...and found she couldn't, not with the burn scars that conjured up harsh memories of death and flames.

Why was it always fire?

The visa had been lost and though she hadn't thought much about it at all she realized now, about to depart to start fresh elsewhere, that she needed one. Needed one only because not to have one marked her as barbari or, worse, slave. Neither made her stomach feel at ease, not when the second was too close to home.

Luckily, Aydyn had a history in Acumin. She'd lived there for a time, two eras, and had worked a while back in the Aedile's Office, had come to know Latherin Veridos passingly well. They'd not been friends, just colleagues, but that was enough. She had confidence enough to believe that there was no reason he would not help her or make the issue complicated.

Still, she was nervous as she entered the Aedile's Office. "Latherin. Serale! I hope you're not too busy at the moment?"

[Aydyn Blair]

Latherin looked up from a pile of papers as Aydyn walked through the doorway and chimed her greeting. His smile was reminiscent of the elvish ways--controlled, but present, and he rose with a fluid grace to gesture her towards a chair. "Miss Aydyn, have a seat! I suppose it would be too much to hope that you are seeking to purchase a home at last?" His smile warmed some perhaps at the prospect of making a sale before he reseated himself shortly after she had maneuvered her body into an available chair.

"No, I'm afraid not. Amelia has convinced me that I shouldn't remain in Acumin too long. She's right. As much as I love it here, I don't really belong." There was a twinge of sadness in her voice and she spoke softly, her mouth curving into a faint smile. "I'll always consider Acumin a refuge, a second home, but I can't stay here."

The elf inclined his cheek slightly, his thin lips pursing in measured contemplation. "I see. That's a shame. We would love to have you settle here." There was a small length of silence after she tendered her thanks for Aydyn was uncomfortable in making her request and Latherin was clearly unsure of the reason for her visit. "So. You have come here for a social visit or is there something that I can, perhaps, help you with?"

Aydyn shifted in the chair. It felt uncomfortable, perhaps because they were made of wood and cushioned thinly or merely for her own sense of awkwardness as her impending request. "I am not sure what you know of what happened to me, Latherin, but...I've lost my visa. Or rather, it was taken from me." She left it that, her tongue stuck in her mouth and unwilling to continue.

He studied her moment, his elvish ways leaving him comfortable with taking things at an even, steady pace. She was thankful that she'd taken the time to arrange her hair in such a way that it covered her ears...covered the mark of slavery that the slavers had branded there. "And you wish for me to dispense to you a new one?"

She nodded mutely, hands gripping the armrests of her chair. That was the sum of it, yes, but she couldn't bring her to ask it of him. Why, she could not say, only that she felt the butterflies churning warily in her stomach.

[Aydyn Blair]

Latherin smiled anew at her obvious discomfort. "You look...worried. Why?"

Aydyn shrugged almost immediately for it was the only response that she could drag from herself right there and then. After he remained silent, obviously waiting, she could feel the flush on her cheeks as she tried to offer an explanation. "I don't know. I suppose it is because I know what people think of those who don't carry citizenship papers. Barbari." She couldn't bring herself to say the other word. Slave. To say it would have been to cause herself to cramp up. She could repeat it endlessly inside her head...but aloud? She didn't dare try.

"Ah, but I know you. I know you are not barbari. You are a citizen of the empire, with or without your papers. But you are leaving Acumin and others don't know you, is that it?" She nodded a little. "Then it is a good thing you are in Acumin and not elsewhere. Here we know you. Let me see what I can put together for you. You will be granted a new visa number, of course, but I will try and keep the rest of the information very much the same. So if you can just provide me with the information I need I can certainly help you out."

"About that--" She started...stammered to a stop and shortly there after become acutely aware that Latherin was studying her with a deep frown, puzzled. "What I mean to say is...I was hoping you might put a...a different name on it."

Latherin leaned back in his chair and maintained his stare. "Why, Miss Aydyn?"

[Aydyn Blair]

What was there to say? What was there to say that she wanted to tell him? That she'd been a slave and had managed to get away? That she was terrified he would hunt her, find her, shackle her anew? Slavery was in the past. It was in the past. She would not stand for it grasping at her in the future. But she could not find the words to explain it. "I...need to start new. I need to put what was in the past behind me."

"So you mean to accomplish this with a fake visa? I am sorry, Miss Aydyn, but I don't believe this to be something I feel comfortable enough granting you." He did not seem moved by her obviously crestfallen expression, but then he was adept at shading his emotions and Aydyn took not pain in it.

"I understand. Please...don't mention that I asked for it?"

Latherin nodded stiffly. "Of course. Now, write your information on this paper please. I'll prepare it into the proper document for you. Name, area of birth, birth brightening. I'll provide the visa number. You know how this goes." He smiled faintly. "I'll prepare the visa as you do that."

As he turned to shuffle through his papers and pick up a quill, Aydyn set her eyes on the document in front of her. She could feel the need to cry--a pointless feeling for nothing had been damaged, just her own fragile pride and even then she knew her request had been a foolish one--and she bit her lip and tried to focus. There was no need to cry. None at all.

[Aydyn Blair]

She jotted out the information quickly enough before handing it over and by the time she leaned back against the head rest of the chair her eyes no longer felt full and watery, even if they still stung slightly. She folded her hands on her lap though her fingers moved idly, picking at a ragged nail or scraping away some dirt stuck between nail and flesh. She could hear the scrape of the quill tip against paper as he worked steadily, surely, and tried not to show her discomfort as she waited.

At last he set aside his quill and sprinkled over the fresh ink a mix of powder, the excess of which he blew aside. "There you are. A new visa. Take a look and make sure everything looks all right." He handed it over to her, a slim document in a blue leather case, the paper neatly fastened to it. It looked fresh and crisp. Brand new.

"Thank you, Latherin. It looks just fine." Her finger brushed the edge of the paper as she examined her information there on the page for people to see. It seemed so easy to try and change it to read something else, but she could not ask something of a man who was already trying to help her. "It looks fine," she repeated, a little more firmly. She didn't budge, although it was clear the need for her visit had come to an end.

Latherin was a patient sort and not at all irritated by her presence. "If you need anything else that I can help you with, let me know. I would gladly try and help you find a home or work here in Acumin. I do believe you know that, hm?"

Aydyn smiled faintly and gradually allowed herself to stand. "Thank you again, Latherin. This means a lot to me." He allowed her to embrace him before she went on her way, new visa in hand. She'd gotten what she'd come for if not precisely as she wanted it. But this would have to do. She'd have to learn to make do with the past she'd left behind. She couldn't hide any longer.

[Tarot]

Approved.

-Tarot