I arrived in Crystal Valley with nothing more than a glowing transcript from New Leaf Academy given to me by Emilia, forged Harmonian service papers from Tesla and Kimberly, a well-rehearsed story fusing fact and fiction, and the clothes on my back. As I counted out the coins to pay the man who was generous enough to give me the ride in the back of his wagon, I felt degraded. I could have used my teleportation magic and saved all this time and debasement. But I didn't know what strength I would need ahead, and I didn't know how much further past my breaking point that magic would bring me. I hadn't even dared use more than my most basic command of the True Wind Rune during the journey, and then only when no one else was able to afford a decent defense against monsters on the road, and my rod was no use either.

Though I had been in Crystal Valley before, it was only in fleeting moments. Enough to torment that brother of mine, Sasarai, and even that was mostly in the area of Crystal Palace. In the city, I felt like everyone's eyes were on me. There goes some low-born trash. There goes a weakling. There goes a fraud. I kept my head down, not looking at anyone as I walked the shining white main boulevard from the gates and straight to the Crystal Palace. I clutched my papers tight to my chest. I couldn't lose those lies.

"State your purpose." One of the guards demanded as I approached the grand front doors of Crystal Palace. They reached thirty feet into the air, and were broader still, if one chose to open them fully. The clearer entrance was the normal man-sized door cut into the corner, in front of which the guard and his compatriot stood.

"I have an interview." I mumbled. I would have given anything to have Flik chaperone me like he had through the farce of New Leaf Academy. I grit my teeth. This was my mission, and no one else's. "Guard position, high importance prisoners."

I waved the job notice in front of the guard's face, and he snatched it for a cursory glance. He scoured the papers like I was the fraudulent scum I truly was. The posting was for Temple Guard. I certainly did not look the role. Even if I could have put some muscle on my frame, there was no hiding that I had brown hair and green eyes like a Harmonian second-class citizen, not the purebred blond and blue. I hoped that my cover story would hold water for long enough.

"Enter." The guard thrust my papers back at me, half dropping them before I had a chance to take hold. He took out a large, silvery key and unlocked the small man-door set into the gate. The other guard sneered as I stepped in. This was not my place, his look told me. I stuck my tongue out at him slyly as I strode through. This was my place more than he would ever know, and less than I could ever want.

Once inside, it was clear that not even second-class citizens were fit to be servants, or at least to be seen. I quickly found a young female servant to guide me to my destination, a forsaken corner of Crystal Palace that was as much lamps and narrow corridors as the front face of the Palace was openness and sunlight. She was gracious enough. I couldn't detect derision as she described the meaningful pieces of art and architecture, nor as she made small talk. She was probably too far rehearsed.

"Mr. Ross, this is the new candidate." she introduced me when we came to the prison offices.

I was surprised. I had expected yet another well-made first-class citizen, but what I got was a man of second-class bearing, more grizzled than he should have been for active duty. His salt and pepper hair curled tightly against a squarish scalp, and he looked at me suspiciously through narrowed brown eyes.

"Pleased to meet you." I bowed slightly. I hoped the sweat on my palms would not make my papers too damp.

"You don't look like Temple Guard material." Ross said.

"You neither."

"My class wasn't part of my job requirement. Yours is. Bastard or something?"

"I'm no less a first-class citizen than the High Priest himself." I countered boldly. This was true, but also deceptive. The blood of the High Priest ran through my veins. But the founder of Harmonia could not himself have been Harmonian.

"Really." Ross seemed to internally note to himself, Bastard it is. Ross didn't press the issue further, whether or not he was satisfied with my answer. "References?" he asked.

I handed over my papers from Emilia. I knew what they contained. Stellar marks across all aspects of magic, especially for use of wind runes. Terminally embarrassing scores on physical aptitudes, and a personal comment that I "worked best alone". I let myself go through a full battery of tests to let her feel confident in an assessment for a student who was enrolled for no more than a few days. Some things were best when they were real, and her reputation as headmistress of New Leaf Academy was on the line if my skills were fraudulent.

"It says you have military experience."

"The Gate Rune Wars. I also fought with Sasarai in the Dunan Unification War." I replied. Again, a truth as long as one didn't pry too far into the difference between "fought with" and "fought for". "I led magicians' units."

"Then why here? You could go much further." Ross said. His challenge seemed rooted in disappointment, the way he let my papers fall limp in his knotted hands as he looked up at me from his desk. His voice was almost gentle, though still cold and formal.

I looked around. The servant who led me here had left. "After seeing what the wind conjured up by the Dunan Army could do, I didn't want to stay longer on the battlefield." I said softly, "The True Runes are terrible things, and my place far from the front lines. I heard that someone with good magic skills is needed for a special prisoner. I would be of better use here."

Half-truth. The wind conjured was mine. If that strain didn't break me like it had, I would have gladly done more to help Riou in the war. I would rather die helping him or Tir than wither away in Master Leknaat's tower, grateful as I was for her care. Fortunately or not, I didn't die.

"That is true. Have you done any guard work before?"

"Yes." I guarded the Tablet of Stars. I watched a hundred and seven people make friends and adventures and find their names engraved upon the Tablet. Twice. Both times, I knew I would need to return to the isolated comfort of Leknaat's island. "Mostly military intelligence. Solo work."

"Any family who could be flagged as belonging to either People's or Temple Factions?"

"No."

"Anyone in your family who is employed by Holy Harmonia?"

I hesitated. I had rehearsed a firm 'No', but had sudden doubts if it was a realistic answer. Sheepishly, I said, "A brother. We haven't been on speaking terms for many years."

Ross seemed satisfied.

"You will not be allowed to communicate with the prisoner but must make regular welfare checks. There's a window in the door for that. Only the rune scholars are permitted access, between the hours of dawn and dusk. You will be required to stop any magic that breaks through the barriers set up around the cell and inform the scholars for their immediate repair. You are not permitted to reveal any aspect of the prisoner's identity, even to other guards. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes."

This was an actual lie. Anyone else, I could stand by and let the tides of fate flow around me like I had guarding the Tablet of Stars. But for someone born with a rune, like I was, I would not stand by in silence.

"The prisoner sent two rune scholars to the hospital last week. One will lose his hand to frostbite. If the barriers fall, will you risk that?"

I shook my head, saying, "I don't know those scholars, but I doubt they have half my skill. I can control him."

Frostbite. What rune could it be- The True Water Rune? Or something connected to the World of Emptiness?

Ross folded his arms in front of him. "You'll need to prove that. They were born with a rune, and it's not a common one either."

"How?"

"What runes do you have to protect yourself?"

"A wind rune." The True Wind Rune. I knew it better than the back of my own hand, the hand that it presented itself on, though the Rune itself was as much a part of the whole of my body as my soul. Perhaps more.

"Show me."

"I don't want to destroy your office, sir."

"The wastebasket then. Only the wastebasket."

Ross stood and picked up a wicker basket from underneath this desk, placing it in front of me before standing behind it. I grinned. He was challenging me, and either had total confidence or utter disbelief in my abilities. No one had ever cared enough to test me like this.

I met Ross's eyes and nodded that I was ready. I coaxed my rune gently. This was a wastebasket, not a dragon. None of the crumpled papers inside would need much power to shred, but finesse with a rune was. But if this was the challenge, I would turn them to fine dust. Extending my hand, I called on the air in the room to tear the basket to pieces. Moving so fast that it was like a tornado of knives, I dashed the wicker into pieces as fine as sawdust that rose in a column in front of Ross, narrowing to a fine spindle of debris before falling to the ground in a neat pile. Though his greying hair was ruffled by my magic, not a single piece of his destroyed wastebasket touched him. I smiled broader. That was easy, even though I had scarcely needed to apply myself so cleverly before. A sweep of my arm and I bade a breeze of my own creation to carry all the offending debris towards the fireplace, where it was consumed by the flames in a golden shimmer. Now it only needed to impress enough to win Ross over.

"You have a job, Eurus." Ross extended his hand. "You will start tonight."

"Thank you, Mr. Ross." I bowed, hoping so hard I didn't seem to startled by the use of my false name I realized too late that I returned the wrong gesture.

"Let's get you a uniform. No promises it fits. Height requirement is a little higher than general military, but I've gone through so many who can't handle this prisoner I'm willing to let it slide."

"Why the high turnover?" I asked.

"Many reasons. A few were less independent than they presented themselves, others found a way to move up and out of prison duty. Some were injured, others said they couldn't stand to be around the prisoner."

"Why not?"

"They found his appearance disturbing. I can't say anything more. I've never seen the prisoner, and as I've said, it is strictly against the Bishops' wishes that anyone divulge any identifying information about the prisoner."

Ross took me to pick up a uniform and as expected there was nothing that would fit properly. I told myself that it didn't matter- I would not be here long anyway, and who would care to see me? Even if the clothes did fit, they would be no less loathsome to me. Just holding the bundle filled me with disgust for everything the blue and white fabric stood for.

"And next, I'll show you to your dormitory. You'll be sharing a room with others on your shift in this cell block, including myself. You'll get a choice of bunk- Matt's covering for Baas on first this next week. Hope he shapes up remembering where he used to be."

"What happened?"

"Demotion. Can't keep his fool mouth shut and ticked off his supervisor. Most of his coworkers too. Shame, he's talented enough to do very well if he didn't have such a bad personality."

Ross's comment stung, even though it wasn't directed at me. It brought back a memory that grated me. Somehow, during the last war, I was roped into judging a cooking competition. Fu Tan Chen had begun introducing each of us aloud, and my heart sank. I didn't want the attention. I never forgot how he introduced me when it came my turn.

"He's the powerful sorcerer with a good face, but a bad personality! It's Leknaat's pupil, Luc!"

I had been left speechless. He wasn't even wrong, except maybe that I had 'a good face'. Nothing below that surface was worth anything. I was still smoldering with anger and self-reproach when he had even less flattering words about Sierra. She had the presence of mind to stand up for herself as I grew angry on her behalf. She had my interest when I first heard she was searching for, and then regained her own True Rune, the Blue Moon Rune, though I never told her about my own. From time to time, I even wondered if she suspected when I had become worried after she mentioned in passing a Harmonian man she met who was looking for the True Runes in the area. She was certainly less reticent with me than others when I asked her history with the Rune once she regained it. Her hundreds of years being cursed by the hunger of her Rune, all alone, made my own past seem light by comparison. But there was an end to her loneliness. I did not know when I would know anything except Leknaat and our island, at least for longer than a war. I was jealous as well that she was so much more at peace with bearing a True Rune, and with not being human- though she had far much more choice than I did. I regretted that I didn't have the courage or time to know Sierra better. But what could she have wanted to do with me?

I snapped out of my reverie just as we got to the dormitory. It was a simple, windowless space, not surprising as we were somewhere underground beneath the Crystal Palace. The walls were whitewashed and the only furniture was two bunk beds, four footlockers, and a wooden table with four stools. The bedding was Harmonian blue, and the back wall was hung with the flag of Holy Harmonia. On the bottom bunk of one bed, a young blond man a few years older than me lay on his stomach reading a book as he idly bent and unbent a piece of wire. He looked up as Ross and I entered.

"You got a new guy already D-Ross? Welcome to the Slag Squad, call me Spiess." he said and waved.

"Eurus." I said, "And… 'Slag Squad'?"

"Yeah. My idea- family is big in the metals business, and we got three types of slag here- spiess, matte, and dross. Harmonia wants us just as much as any waste, but we're a fact of life."

"And I fit right in." I said sarcastically

"You can be an honorary member. What's your family name? Maybe I can make something of it."

"I don't have a family name."

"Ah, are you from one of the smaller provinces? Anyway, 'Eurus'? That's the east wind. Unlucky enough to fit in great here."

Spiess didn't know the half of it. I looked up at Ross, who seemed slightly embarrassed, but took it in stride.

"Do I still call you Mr. Ross then?"

"My first name is fine. Danilo. Or Dani, I answer to anything. I've gotten used to Dross."

I moved over to the bottom bunk of the bed opposite Spiess and sat down. I was still in my normal clothes. I dreaded needing to take them off.

"It's an hour until shift starts." Dross said, "I'll be going back to the office. The cell you're going to guard is on the right, at the end of the hall. Spiess can show you if you forget."

I watched him leave as Spiess returned to his book and bending his length of wire back and forth- wrapping it around his finger, forming it into letters, and returning it to a straight length as he perused each page, sometimes flipping back to previous pages. There were more drawings than pictures.

"What are you reading?" I asked. I knew history, and divination, and this looked like a text of neither.

"Metallurgy."

"You're a guard." I pointed out.

"For now. Father wants us to work before we have a chance to help with the companies. I don't have much of a chance compared to my brothers, but I can dream. Least of his sons and greatest pain in his side, Father always said, ha ha."

"I know the feeling."

"Really now? You can't be, looking like that but getting here."

"You'd be surprised."

Spiess returned to his book. I changed into my new guard's uniform. I faced the wall as I removed my shirt. There was nothing but fat. Not necessarily shameful in a magician, but this was my thin body, and both Spiess and Dross were built for wars they may never face. The most exercise I had was in taking care of the tower and meals for both Master Leknaat and I. I changed quickly. In the end, I was left with a scratchy uniform with a firmly starched collar that grated against my neck, sleeves that were too far past my knuckles and pants that rumpled around my ankles.

"Who is your prisoner?" I asked, for want of conversation.

"Some noble. Nice guy, at least to talk to. He says he feels safer here, where the Howling Voice Guild can't reach him. But he's more than happy to trade what he knows of other families in exchange for news and tobacco." Spiess said. He twisted up his piece of wire again, and it snapped. He continued bending one remaining half of the wire. "You'll have to tell me about your prisoner when you meet him."

"I'm not supposed to." I said. I was still creating in my mind what our first meeting would be. Would he look like me? With a True Rune, and a face like a Bishop? Older or younger, or was I actually a triplet? I could imagine Temple Guard fleeing when they found out their prisoner was a doppelganger for one of the Bishops.

"Ha! You're too dedicated." Spiess smiled over his book, "Let me know when the disillusion sets in."

I didn't respond to that. Instead, I put my clothes in the footlocker at the foot of the bunk bed and took a seat at the table. I watched the candle at the center of it burn down, following the passing minutes with the melting of the wax. I didn't have anything to say and dreaded the start of my shift as much as I looked forward to it. Eventually Spiess rose, sliding his wire between the pages of his book in lieu of a paper bookmark.

"It's time. You remember where to go, Eurus?"

"On the right, at the end."

"Get an update from first shift. They're not the best at pass-downs."

I internalized his order but didn't respond. I walked towards the end of the hall, trying to keep in mind that my bearing had every effect of how I was perceived. I had to be a soldier and a guard, not a fraud of a magician.

"Hey, you my relief?" The guard I was to replace asked. This must be Matt.

"I am." I said, "Anything to let me know?"

"Eh. Prisoner does his thing, I don't need to do anything with the rune scholars being around all shift."

"I heard he sent some to the hospital." I said

"I didn't see anything. Felt the frost though. He tends to get frustrated at night; thank the gods I get some other prisoner once Baas is back."

"Hardly welcoming of him." I commented.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "You really think you can deal with him, Mister Second-Class?"

I bristled. "What does that mean? If breeding is supposed to be merit, I'd rather throw my lot in with the second- and third- class citizens. Who else has evaded Harmonia for centuries with a True Rune?"

Master Leknaat was foremost in my mind. For over three hundred years, she guarded her half of the Gate Rune. Her clan was destroyed by Harmonia, and only she and her sister Windy remained. She was nothing like what Holy Harmonia valued, except for having half of the Gate Rune. Her hometown rebelled. She herself was blinded when Harmonia destroyed her village. In a land where fairness was a marker of value, her hair was black as night. Nor would Tir and Riou be considered worthy of being Harmonian heroes, or even poor Ted, regardless of whose side they fought on.

Matt looked annoyed. "Later, sunshine."

"Hope you feel more capable once you're back to your demotion." I shot back. It was a shot in the dark. I had made a guess that guarding this particular prisoner was more difficult than any else. It must have worked. Matt turned red as he passed by me.

"Keep talking. I'll see if you're not frozen in the morning."

He was right. Frost coated corners of the door to the cell, and left icicles around the window slot in the door.

Matt's tone was so dismissive, I could see at once why no one would want to work with him. Though at the same time, I was an other. He would have needed to be completely foolish to treat real first-class citizens or his superiors with the same tone. He disappeared in a huff. I waited until I could no longer hear his footsteps, and then a while more to make sure that no one else was likely to come by. I leaned against wall, watching frosty air fall along the door jamb and pool along the floor. My feet began to chill in my boots. And this was on the other side of a magic barrier, though by my estimation it was a weak one patched over many times by mages of different styles and strengths. I could make something far stronger with my training from Master Leknaat.

When I felt safe, I turned the knob on the prison door. I didn't want to bother looking through the window first, I felt confident in my ability to take on this prisoner myself, if needed. I was also far too curious. What face would I see on the other side? Would it be like my own, and would it smile when I gave an offer of freedom? I shivered with my own memories.

With the door even slightly ajar, I could begin to hear the sound of crying. The room was coated in ice but was nothing like I expected. It was well-appointed, more like a room for a noble Harmonian than for a prisoner despite the lack of windows. On one side there was a bookcase with heavy locks holding the doors shut. Across from me, a couch and a low table. Opposite the bookcase, a bed with the crying person, huddled under the blankets. Only the immediate area around the prisoner was free of ice.

I closed the door behind me. With my first step towards the prisoner, I felt something crunch under my boot. I stepped back and looked at what I had destroyed underfoot. It was half a toy horse. The other half had its legs snapped off and thrown across the white stone floor. The wreckage of a miniature wagon lay wrapped around one of the table legs. I swallowed hard. This was a child. Harmonia had done it once more.

More gingerly, I stepped around the carnage of the horse and scattered puzzle pieces. The child didn't stop crying. I warded away the ice around me with a warm breeze and sat at the foot of the bed.

"Stop crying." I commanded, before realizing it would get me nowhere. More gently, I asked, "What's your name?" I had expected someone my own age. I wished Leknaat was here. Or Riou or Nanami, they were far better with kids than I was. Probably even a bear like Viktor could do better than I could.

"Go away!" was the response I got.

"Not tonight. What's your name?"

The sobs grew fainter as the child twisted around underneath his heavy blue blanket, and then I saw a mess of pale yellow hair emerge from behind the covers, followed by a puffy red face that drew even more contrast between pale blue eyes and the rune throbbing with magical light on the child's forehead. I squinted to see through the light. It was a Flowing rune, powerful water magic, but no True Rune. One more question answered.

"Sarah."

I could feel tears build up in my eyes. My expectations were dashed, and I was left even more angry at Harmonia. I had somehow pictured a young man like me, kept secret by the Harmonian priests for their own ends. This was a little girl, and she didn't even have a True Rune on her. I couldn't fathom the reason the state would want to keep someone like her locked up like this, and under such secrecy.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, "I can-"

"Go away." Sarah repeated.

She scowled, promptly turning away from me and throwing her legs over the side of the bed to get out of it. Sarah murmured something to herself, and the puffiness and color of tears drained to paleness. She knew her rune well. I could have cast a healing wind over her, but she was more than capable to help herself. Both the ice and the healing were basic magic, but I noted the ease with which she conjured them. Sarah walked over to the puzzle pieces and gathered them in a heap before studying each in turn, trying more by chance than by recognition to assemble the picture.

"If you start with the edges..." I suggested from where I sat.

Sarah turned back at me and frowned. I could feel her magic attack me, and when I opened my mouth to speak I found I was robbed of my voice. Clever of her, to silence me with the power of a Silent Lake spell. Now I was very impressed. I watched her play with her puzzle more, now sorting out the edge pieces first and putting them in place.

I left part way through, unable to speak, and with none of Sarah's attention on me. I needed to keep up my semblance of being a guard, in any case. Hours passed, and I checked through the window as I was instructed. In one view, she grew close to finishing the puzzle, leaving only a blue sky to fill in. In the next viewing, the whole puzzle was scattered again, and Sarah was back in bed. She slept for a while, then I heard her scream and cry again. I rushed in.

"Are you alright?" I asked. It was a nightmare. I knew nightmares well. "Can I help you?"

Again Sarah didn't reply, though the sounds of her crying became punctuated more and more by silences and hiccups. She was crying even harder than before. Over and over I wracked my brain, trying to think of how to fill the uncomfortable gap between us. I tried to think of what I would have wanted thirteen years ago when I was awaiting death in a cell so much smaller and rougher than this one. That brought little fruit. I had wanted only oblivion then. Then, what had Riou done for Pilika? Or Nanami? I had caught them placating the girl with a hug once, but Sarah did not seem open to that. Sweets were not an option either, at least for the moment.
"Did you have a nightmare?" I asked.

Sarah nodded. "I don't wanna sleep now."

"I could tell you a story." I announced before admitting, "Though I don't know many."
Amazingly, I heard Sarah choke out a "Yeah."
I was caught off guard, expecting a refusal or at least another silence that would give me time to think. I cycled through the stories of people I knew, not knowing any fairy tales well. Master Leknaat never told me any in my childhood, and before that… before that, I never heard much of anything.
"Well," I began. I focused my sight on the bookcases opposite us. Were there even storybooks there? Probably not, if they were locked so fast. My throat began to dry up. I knew I would make a mistake somehow. Nevertheless, I continued. "Not long ago, there was a little boy. He was a dragon knight, and not much older than you."
I continued relentlessly, forgetting to check on if Sarah was awake or even listening. I don't think I had said so much at one time in ages, but when I was done I had related the entire story, from the boy joining the Liberation Army to the loss of his dragon Black and finding Bright and at last his role in the final battle against the True Beast Rune. I left out the grimmer truths of the face of war.
"What was the boy's name?" Sarah asked. I hadn't given enough credit to my skills to think she was still listening, or would even calm down as much as she had. But by the look of the candles in the room, I had run long in the tale.
"Huh? Oh, I forgot to say." I kicked myself mentally for forgetting to state something so basic. "Futch. His name was Futch. Maybe…" I thought about how I had believed I would never see the little brat again after the Gate Rune War. A little brat who had done more than I in fewer years. "Maybe you can meet him someday." I trailed off.
"Liar." Sarah's accusation was cold. The room became cooler again as well, until frost once again began forming on the walls. I looked toward Sarah. She was sitting now, her blanket clutched close around her. She struggled to regain her composure. Tears were streaming down her face once more. My empathy broke. So, she wanted to be testy? Two could play at that game. Against my better judgement, I let my own magic flow through my Wind Rune. I beat back the frost and whipped Sarah's broken toys around the room in a small cyclone.

"Drop your spells." I commanded. I was wise enough not to break the wards, and clear-headed enough to not let any harm come to Sarah. I let my spell relax as soon as I saw her own call on the rune die down.
"Do not call me a liar." I looked at her coldly, "If you want to leave your cell, I have every intention and every ability to make that possible."
"You'll use me like all the other grownups."
"And what need do I have for that? I came into this world with more power in my little finger than you have now. And the politics of Harmonia are a game for stupid puppets to play." I caught myself at the edge of a precipice and took a deep breath, bringing my emotions back in check. I couldn't be lecturing a little girl and then expecting her to accept my help. "I'm s- I'm willing to help you get out of here."
I wanted to say, I know how you feel. I'm not so different than you. But I held my tongue. Those were things she didn't need to know. Not now, at least.
"Let me think."
Not the words I would have liked to hear, but they were encouraging at least.
"Then try to sleep. I will be back tomorrow, and you can tell me your answer."

Sarah rolled over, wrapping her quilt tight around her until all I could see were a few threads of cornsilk hair.

"What's your name?" Sarah mumbled, the bedclothes muffling her voice to near inaudibility.

I had been nothing more than a trash creature, I thought. I had gotten angry at a child. I couldn't even bring myself to apologize for it. Why should want she ask my name?

"Luc." I said. "My name is Luc."
We said nothing more for the rest of the night. I watched attentively as she succumbed once again to sleep and I rose once to my feet only as my shift ended. I had no greetings for my relief when he came to take my shift over for me and collapsed into my bed when I returned to the dormitory.