{2166 CE – Palaven}

"Is it going to hurt?"

Solana's voice was soft and quiet, barely above a whisper, as she leaned over and asked me the question that I had known better than to ask my father. But I didn't know the answer.

Yet.

I would be finding out soon.

My mother heard her ask the question though, and she looked over her shoulder at Solana and smiled. "It's okay, Solana. Garrus will be just fine, I promise."

"Are you afraid?" Solana asked, and I didn't have to look at her to know that her eyes were wide with worry. I could hear it all in the way her voice rose, her subvocals cued the anxiety better than her face ever could have.

"Of course he's not." My father spoke up, from his place in the driver's seat of the shuttle we were taking into town. He wasn't at home much lately, his job at C-Sec on the Citadel saw to that, but he was always the same every time he came back home to see us. "He's a Vakarian. You're not afraid, are you, son?"

"No, dad." I answered, swallowing. I saw my father glance in the rearview mirror, his eyes narrowed. He heard the fear in my voice, just as I could hear the anxiety in Solana's.

"This is a big day for you, sweetie." My mother said, turning to look at me this time. I could hear the reassurance and gentleness in her voice. "It's not every day that a boy turns ten and gets his ancestral markings."

The ancestral markings.

I swallowed again, nodding at my mother's words instead of answering her. I would only have made my father mad if I had spoken, I knew I couldn't keep my feelings out of my voice.

In the days leading up to my tenth birthday, many of my classmates had told me horror stories about receiving their ancestral markings. Stories of pain, blood, and agony. The stories were whispered, no one wanted our instructors to hear them. They said that if I mentioned my worries about the pain, I would be punished. So I had kept the stories to myself.

But now it was time to experience it, and all the pleading I had done with the Spirits hadn't helped relieve me of being afraid. My teachers had told me that the Spirits were all around us, inhabiting everything and seeing all.

If they saw me shaking in my seat, I could only hope that they kept it to themselves.


When we arrived at the building, an attendant came to greet us as soon as we left the shuttle. He looked at my father and nodded to him. "Vakarian, sir, welcome." His voice was respectful, and my father nodded to him in return, motioning for us to follow him.

My mother took Solana's hand in her left and mine in her right. She squeezed my fingers reassuringly, smiling down at me as we walked into the large hallway, but she didn't speak. The rooms around us were all silent, it was unnerving.

Hearing nothing but the sounds of our footsteps, we eventually came to the end of the hallway and the attendant showed us into an empty room. After we filed in, he spoke to my father again. "They'll be in shortly." He turned his attention to me then, and gave me a smile. "Congratulations… Garrus, was it? This is an exciting experience for you."

He reached out a hand and I shook it, gripping his hand firmly, the way my father had taught me to do. "Thank you, sir."

"I know you're probably nervous, but everything's going to go fine." He added, letting go of my hand.

"I-I'm not afraid." I answered, standing straighter as I spoke. I felt my father's hand on my shoulder and I looked up, he was smiling down at me, too.

"He'll be fine. Thank you, Ralyn." He addressed the attendant, and then Ralyn left, closing the door behind him. My father's hand squeezed my shoulder before letting go, and he moved to take a seat in one of the available chairs. "Come here, Garrus." He motioned to me, and I obeyed. When I got close, he pulled me onto his knees, like he had when I was younger. "Why are you afraid, son?"

I felt my neck flush at his words, and I lowered my eyes. But when my father spoke again, he didn't sound angry. His voice was gentle. "I'm not reprimanding you, I'm simply asking a question. Your mother and I both told you the story of when we received our own markings, didn't we?"

"Yes, but…" I answered, wondering if it was okay to tell him the other stories I had been told. But I knew he would be able to tell if I was lying, so I did. "My classmates told me of receiving their markings, and they said it hurt. A lot." I swallowed, looking up at my father. "And that there was a lot of blood."

My mother spoke from her seat near them, where she was holding Solana. "I believe they were teasing you, Garrus. The markings don't hurt after the first few minutes, and they certainly don't bleed."

"It doesn't ache every day and make your head hurt?" That was one of the facts that they had told me. I didn't want to live my life with constant pain.

My father chuckled at my question, reaching up to touch his own blue marks. "Here, let me see your hand." He picked my hand up and pressed one of my talons to the marks. I watched his face, but couldn't see any sign of pain. "See? Nothing. It doesn't hurt at all." He let go of my hand, and touched the cartilage under my eyes and across my nose, where I knew the marks would be going. "It'll go along here, and over onto your mandibles. Just like mine."

"Why aren't mom's markings like yours?" I asked. I had noticed before that they were different, but had never asked why.

"When we made the plans for our bonding ceremony, I chose to keep my own colony's markings." My mother answered, raising a hand to touch the pale white marks on her own face. "The decision is up to each person, some choose to take their spouse's markings. My parents passed away when I was young, so I chose to bear these markings to carry on their memory instead of taking the Vakarian ancestral markings."

"Every turian child takes the ancestral markings of the colony line they were born into. You're a Vakarian, so you'll receive the Vakarian markings. So will Solana, when she becomes of age." My father spoke, looking over at my younger sister. "You know what receiving your markings means, right?"

"It's… the first step to becoming an adult." I recited. My teachers had spoken of it to my class many times, telling of the old customs of when turians of past times turned ten, received their colony markings, and became soldiers. The age was pushed back after the Unification War, and I wouldn't be considered a part of the military for five more years. But the custom of receiving ancestral markings still happened on the tenth birthday.

"That's right." My mother smiled as she spoke, and I could hear the pride in her voice.

The door opened then, and an older turian walked in. He was carrying several instruments on a tray and his eyes went from me to my father before his face registered a sign of recognition. "Aerilus, is it really that time already? Your boy can't be ten yet, I swear he was just born a few years back." His voice sounded warm and friendly, and I felt a little better.

My father slid me off of his knees in order to stand, shaking hands with the other turian. "Tiius, it's been too long."

"It sure has." Tiius answered, smiling warmly at my mother and sister. "Shuvia, good to see you, too. And that's your youngest, right?" He waved a hand to Solana. "No one can say the Vakarians don't know how to clean up nicely. Your family's beautiful."

"Thank you, Tiius." My father put his hand on my back, pulling me in front of him. "This is Garrus, of course."

"Happy birthday, Garrus." Tiius said, crouching down to speak to me at eye-level. He reached a hand out to me, and I shook it. After he let go, he clapped his hands on my shoulders. "It's a pleasure to be able to give you your Vakarian ancestral markings. I was good buddies with your dad when we were in military training. He's a fine turian."

I nodded, unsure how to respond, but Tiius just smiled and straightened up. "I'm going to have you sit in this chair over here, and I'll get everything ready." He motioned to the chair in the center of the room that was unoccupied before turning his back and beginning to unload the tray he had carried in. "I've got the official pigment card, Aerilus, but I'd like you to compare it with your own and make sure the colors were mixed properly." He handed my father a piece of paper, and my father removed a paper from his pocket and studied them both carefully.

"Everything looks in order." He responded, handing the original paper back to Tiius. "Do you have the schematic of the markings?"

"Indeed I do." Tiius handed those to him next, before turning to me with a small brush. "I'm going to get you to lay back, Garrus. I'll outline where the markings are going to go with ink before I do anything permanent."

"Yes, sir." I managed to get out, swallowing hard as I laid back in the chair. It had a cushion built into the headrest to support my neck, and it wasn't uncomfortable, but I was tense and scared. I closed my eyes as Tiius leaned over me with a brush, and jumped when I felt something cold and wet on my face.

A laugh above me caused me to open my eyes. Tiius had a cloth and had touched it to my face. "It's just water, Garrus. I'm making sure your face is wiped clean before I do anything, or else it could turn out wrong." I nodded, but kept my eyes open as he scrubbed my face with the cloth, following the path where the markings would be, and then dried it carefully with another cloth.

He put down the dry cloth and then touched the brush to my nose. I didn't feel anything, so I kept my eyes opened as he traced it under my eyes and on the side of my face, along the side of my crest, and then onto my mandible, then repeated it on the other side. After several minutes of work, he stepped back, looking over to my mother and father, who were watching silently.

"Well?" Tiius asked, smiling at them.

My father approached me, turning my face carefully, examining what had been painted on it. My mother set Solana in the chair and came over as well, patting my shoulder as she looked at the markings. "They look perfect." She said eventually, looking over at my father. "It just needs the blue pigment now."

My father looked over the lines again before stepping back and nodding at Tiius. "Good job, go ahead."

Tiius stepped forward again, holding a metal object that had a small, sharp blade on one end. "Now, Garrus, this part will hurt as I'm doing it. But I need you to hold still so I don't scrape where I'm not supposed to."

I looked from him to my father, then to my mother, then lastly to Solana. She looked even more afraid than she had in the shuttle on the way over. I wanted to be brave for her, even though I was so afraid that I had forgotten all of my mother's reassurances. "I'll be still." I finally said, and I gripped the arms of the chair.

The first scrape of the small knife was the worst. I felt it drag along the cartilage of my face, scraping away a thin outer layer as it moved. The layer underneath stung from exposure, but I stayed still, my eyes closed, as Tiius worked.

After what felt like ages had passed, I heard a clink, and opened my eyes. Tiius had put the small knife down, and picked up the cloth again, wetting it in a small cup of liquid. "This is an antibacterial analgesic, Garrus. It'll stop the stinging and prevent any infection until you heal." He pressed the cloth to one of my mandibles and I almost cried out at the pain, but it was quickly gone as the analgesic began to work. He wiped down the rest of the scraped areas of my face with the cloth, the pain quickly being replaced by a cool sensation as the cloth was moved.

Tiius dried my face carefully, and reached for a sealed jar he had brought in with him. "Now comes the fun part." He said, opening the jar and holding it up for me to see inside of it. I saw a shade of blue that was familiar to me. I glanced at my father, and he nodded back at me. It was the same color that I had seen on his face for as long as I could remember.

"Now hold still, this is going to be cold."

Tiius was right, the pigment was cold. But it felt good on the raw areas of my face, crest, and mandibles that he had scraped. I barely breathed as he applied it, afraid he would mess up if I took too deep a breath. After a long, careful process, he stepped back again and picked up a mirror, handing it to me. "Don't touch it, we have to cure the pigment so that it'll set. But check it out."

I reached out and took the mirror, my hand shaking as I held it up in front of me. When I finally saw the markings in the mirror, I couldn't stop the smile.

I looked like an adult, like my father. Like a proper Vakarian.

Looking over at my parents, my mother was beaming and my father had a hand on her shoulder, looking both proud and pleased.

"Double-check it for me, Aerilus, and I'll go get the lamp to cure it." Tiius said, and left the room.

My father approached my chair and leaned forward, tapping his head to mine, careful to not touch any of the markings on my face. "Good job, son." His voice sounded strange to my ears, strained and thick. I looked at him as he pulled away, and I thought I saw the shining of tears in his eyes, but I knew I must have been mistaken.

When Tiius came back, he had a small light bar in his hand. "Close your eyes, and leave them closed until I say to open them." He said, holding the light above my face. "I don't want to risk hurting your eyes when I turn this on. Close them now."

I obeyed, closing my eyes for several long minutes until he told me to open them again. When I opened them, Tiius was packing up the many things he had used during the procedure. "You did great, Garrus. He said, holding out a hand to pull me out of the chair. When my feet were back on the floor, he handed two small jars to my parents. "Here's some touch-up paint for either of you to use, and the sealant. I assume you remember how to seal the markings?"

"Yes." My mother answered, accepting the jars. "They should cure for a week first, correct?"

"Yeah, a week will allow any problems with the pigment to work themselves out. Then once you seal it, the markings should be good for ten years or so without a touch-up." He glanced at me before looking back at my father. "Assuming he doesn't see any combat that causes the need for touch-ups before then."

"Thank you, Tiius. You did an excellent job." My father said, shaking the turian's hand.

"We'll be sure to request your help again when it's Solana's turn." My mother replied, shaking Tiius' hand as we left the room. Solana looked between them both, not saying anything. As I walked beside her, out of the room, she stared up at me, at my markings.

Once we got in the car, she leaned over and whispered to me. "Can I touch them?"

"Sure." I said, and reached over to take her hand. I put it gently against the markings, afraid that my face might hurt when she touched them, but it didn't.

"The markings will probably be sore in a few hours, when the analgesic wears off, Garrus." My mother spoke up, smiling at us over her shoulder. "But the ache should be gone by the time you wake up in the morning."

"I want my markings, too." Solana spoke up. I could hear the pout in her voice as she stared at my new markings. It would be four more years until she received her own.

"I can paint some for you when we get home." I offered, thinking of the painting kit Solana had received on her last birthday. "They won't last as long as mine, but we'll match each other until you take a bath." That made Solana happy, and her smile shone the rest of the ride home.


Later that night, after my mother had helped to re-paint Solana's markings after her bath had washed away the messy ones I had painted, I laid in bed trying to go to sleep.

My face was aching, worse than it had during the procedure. I had pulled my blanket up over my head, muffling the sounds of my crying, when I heard footsteps in the hall.

"Garrus, are you okay?"

It was my mother. She walked into my room and turned the lights on dim before making her way to my bed.

"I'm fine." I answered, my voice muffled through the blanket.

"Uncover your head, sweetheart." She said, and I felt her tugging gently on the blanket. I let her pull it off my head, wiping the tears from my face before she could see them. She reached out a hand and rubbed it against my mandible, where the marking was. Where the pain was the worst. "Did the analgesics wear off already?"

I nodded, and she rubbed her thumb across the markings. They felt hot and painful, but her hand felt cool against them, and made the pain lessen.

"Scoot over, let me tell you a story to get your mind off of how it hurts." My mother said, settling herself onto the edge of the bed once I moved over. "Have I ever told you about the time in training camp when your dad misread our commander's markings and got a week of extra kitchen duties because of it?"

I couldn't stop a laugh at the thought, even though it made my face hurt worse. My mother launched into the story, keeping her voice low as to not wake Solana or my father. I didn't hear the end of the story, because I fell asleep to the sound of her voice and the feel of her hand on my head.