Polinna
Hi everybody! My name's Polinna, but you can call me Polly. I'm 10 and a half, and I am definitely a girl. I checked. My favorite color is blue, and I love to wear dresses but nobody lets me unless I get to dress myself and then I have to steal one because they all think I'm a boy which is silly.
Anyway, I get to tell you about the story now! Yay! Now, I got to ride on a kaliosaur who's name was some nasty warrior name like "Iron Hide" or "Skull Crusher" but he smelled nice so I named him Captain Major Snuffles. It was fun, daddy let's me ride on his-
What? Oh, you mean about Mr. Sir. Lord Shepard? OK Mr. Full-Paragon sir. What do you mean, fourth wall privileges? I don't get it.
Well, I was riding with Shepard and he asked me lots of silly questions. He's pretty silly, I like him better then I like the other gods in the stories. One of his questions was about Miranda, which was also pretty silly because she was his wife and they loved each other and did the mommy and daddy wrestling and had babies. So I think he probably knows her favorite color better than I do, but he was so nice I told him a story anyway.
A very long time ago, probably about the time my mom was born, the Bad People were wining. They had beat up the Shepard, who I was telling the story to and should have known this but he acted like he didn't, grownups are weird, and locked him away and I think he probably stayed there until mommy and daddy and the shy quarian and nice turian found him. But that didn't happen now cause it's not in the story.
Well Princess Miranda (I think she was a princess because she was pretty and she probably had loads of dresses) was very sad and she decided she needed to stop the Bad People. So she went to her bestest friends, Tali'Zorah and Saint Liara (who also were princesses) and said "We need to stop the bad people."
And they said "Yes we do Princess Miranda."
So then they used their very smart brains and came up with a special spell that would make all the bad people stop. But when they finished making it they realized that it would make all the peoples lose their magic that let them sail on the winds between spaces and would change the way holy eezo works (which I don't understand because I think it still works, at least it did last time I asked the shaman) and make everyone very sad. But they would be even MORE sad if the Bad People won because then everyone would be dead and Bad People! Which is not good.
So the three princesses decided that they had to cast their spell, and then the Bad People were defeated. Hurray! Then they had cake, and tea, and married princes, because that's what princesses do. Except Miranda, who was sad because Mr. Shepard was still beaten up and she couldn't marry him. I don't think he was a prince, but he was nice so it was OK.
The end!
Shepard
To be honest, Shepard was not quite sure what, exactly, he had expected to learn from Polly's story. It really didn't tell him much other then "Polly likes princesses." She had been pretty cute when she told it though, so it wasn't a total wash. Still, the long miles were getting sort of boring on a kakliosaur, and Shepard was discovering that riding a giant dinosaur required muscles that he didn't have. He had been in pretty good shape, all things considered, but he had a feeling he was going to be walking like Joker when he got off.
Joker. Another friend gone. It was hard, being a stranger in a strange land, a strange time. Sometimes Shepard almost felt like he could wake up and talk to Garrus again, or go down to the armory and work out with Vega, or chat up Tali, or... Or do anything normal, really.
"War's still here. Guess that's normal."
"Who's War? I told you, I named the kakliosaur Captain Major Snuffles."
"Sorry, Polly, I was just thinking out loud. I um, miss my friends."
"Oh me to! I like going to class and getting to fight! I'm pretty good at it, I don't have my witchy stuff yet but mommy says I'll grow into it."
"Witchy stuff? You mean biotics?"
"By-whatics? I mean the blue glowy stuff mommy does when I get an owie."
"Er, yeah, the blue glowy stuff. They're called biotics."
"Nuh-uh. Mommy says it's witchcraft or the Blessing of the Goddess. She never said anything about biwhatics."
Deciding that arguing with the equivalent of a five year old was below a legendary Specter, Shepard wisely decided now was not the time to further Polly's education. Though it was something to think about, and possibly ask Tol'riah.
When they made camp for the evening, Shepard did consult the justicar about biotics.
"I have never heard witchcraft referred to as such," She admitted. "Though from your time, it is not surprising that the names of a few things would change."
"Yeah, I guess." Shepard sighed and went back to sharpening his new sword. It's handle was carved with several runes, and it's blade engraved with more. Apparently, it had been the sword of a turian engineer and there were several microchips and programs built into the blade. It was like a very, very primitive omnitool, and it was rather perplexing that such backwards people could make a tech blade.
"Hey Heart, what do you know about a tech blade like this?" Shepard asked the turian.
Hart shrugged. "Not much. I can tell you that it's a journeyman's blade, and that it was made by the Order. Other than that? Ask Shali. She's the technosorceress."
"Ask me what?" The veiled woman asked, pausing in front of Shepard.
"What can you tell me about how these swords are made? It seems to function sort of like my omnitool, like it boosts my tech abilities."
Taking the sword gently in her hands, Shali carefully examined it. "Yes, it would boost any sorcery you have. It's not a particularly powerful focus, it's one we give to front line troops with minor abilities, what we call a journeyman's blade. Usually I use a sorcerer's staff, that's a much more powerful focus. But the krogan have very little technosorcery of their own, their bloodlines are much more inclined toward witchcraft."
"Wait, technosorcery is genetic?"
"I don't understand, what is 'genetic?"
"You know, passed down by your ancestors. In your DNA. Your blood, I guess you would say."
"Ah, yes, it is, like witchcraft. My blood is of House Zorah, the most ancient and powerful bloodline of Technosorcery there is. The turian's most powerful bloodline is House Appartus. There are other bloodlines, and all the houses have intermarried to some extent. Why, I have a little Appartus blood on my father's side."
"Wait, I thought you said Appartus was a TURIAN bloodline."
"Well, yes."
Shepard stood up and started pacing. "But that's impossible. How could a quarian have turian blood?"
Hart and Shali exchanged bemused glances. "By having a turian ancestor at some point. The turians and quarians have lived together for so long, surely you expected there to be at least a little inter-species breeding. It's considered dishonorable because such couplings are not as fertile, but it's not unheard of. Families usually deny such unions, but the half-breed offspring do crop up from time to time." Hart explained.
"But that's biologically impossible!" Shepard nearly screamed at the two of them. "Turians and quarians come from entirely different planets and biochemical backgrounds! I bought it when you said you could eat levo food, I figure some sort of enzyme bioengineering had been done to you. But to be able to interbreed! Next you're going to tell me you can cross a krogan with a human!"
"My father had a human concubine," Gargo piped up. "You met my half sister, Hegra, at the party. She's half human."
"That's fu-" Shepard glanced at Polly who was happily helping Gargo cook dinner, "-reaking impossible. It just can't happen. There is literally no logical, scientific, or biological way for that to happen. It's utterly, completely, totally impossible. It's inconceivable!"
Now it was everyone else's turn to look at Shepard like he was crazy. "But you know I am the father of Polinna. You do not question that." Gargo explained gently, as if to his daughter.
"But that's different! Asari use their biotics, witchcraft, whatever! To randomize their DNA. They don't actually take genetic material from another to make their embryos!"
Tol'riah nodded. "The words you use are strange, but I think you understand the meaning. Asari are different, we do not produce half-breeds when we couple as other races do. The child of an asari is always asari. It is not so with other races."
Shepard moved his lips, but no sound came out. This went against literally everything he knew about biology, which admittedly was not much. But he didn't need to be Mordin Solis to know that what his new companions were telling was by all he knew, nonsense. But they were serious. Completely and utterly serious. And once again, Shepard felt completely lost.
Shali
The Shepard's reaction to Shali's ancestry had been a shock, to say the least. It had just slipped out, normally that sort of topic wasn't something one discussed, not in polite company. Shali had to be more careful, letting her veil down that much was improper, even with boon companions. It was common knowledge the all the great houses had interbreed at least a little, sometimes in clandestine affairs, other in carefully arranged ploys to bolster the strength of the blood. After all, the strongest technosorceror in the last 150 years had been a half turian, half quarian mixture between two great houses, taking the strengths of both.
Slight revulsion, or perhaps polite disregard had been more in line with the reaction Shali had expected as soon as the words slipped out. But utter disbelief? She didn't know what to make of that. Everyone knew that the species could interbreed, it just wasn't something you talked about. Usually it wasn't a problem, with the exception of the ever alluring asari, most species didn't find each other attractive. Only the turians and quarians actually lived in large numbers together, so naturally their bloodlines were the most comingled. There were occasional krogan, human, salarian and even rumors of batarian mixes with turian and quarian, but no one talked about it. If a quarian happened to have four fingers, well, you just didn't ask if it was because one of their ancestors was a human. It wasn't polite.
If they brought up that they had a human ancestor, especially a famous or powerful one, it would be incredibly rude to tell them to their face that what they were talking about couldn't happen. Everyone knew that half-breeds happened, and between close friends and boon companions, such discussions might arise. Shali certainly was not ashamed of her turian blood, not when it has been a part of a carefully arranged marriage between Appartus and Zorah that hard resulted in a hero of near mythic proportions and strength.
As she watched the Shepard though, she realized he really didn't believe it was possible. She thought about discussing it with Hart, but while he was a good soldier, he was uneducated in the lore of the Ancestors and the ways of the ancients. That left Tol'riah or Gargo, and frankly Shali felt much more comfortable around the asari.
Once the others were asleep, Shali approached the justicar while she was on watch.
"I have a question for you, learned justicar." Shali timidly stated.
Tol'riah smiled at her. "Please, call me by my name. Or perhaps even simply Riah. We are companions, are we not?"
"Tol'riah then, may I ask you something?"
"Of course child, what is it?"
"The Shepard, he is strange, is he not? He has great power and many secrets of the past, yet he does not seem to understand how the world works? How is this possible?"
"The world changes as ages pass. It has been many ages since last the Shepard walked the earth. Perhaps in his time, Archangel was called Garrus Vakarian, and fought mercenaries instead of great demons and gods. But do not your priests pray to his spirit? Does not his form manifest in your temples?"
"It does. And this spirit is as our stories tell us, though details change with each retelling, the core could not be so different."
"The world changes. But the Shepard has not. He has been sealed away, unchanged, unmoving for ages so long even the wisest of sages have forgotten. And the gods, they do not tell us their stories on a whim, do they not? They may remind us of their deeds when our courage fails, or give us a parable that we may apply it's lessons, but they speak in riddles and mysteries like the prophecy. Perhaps even history changes as ages turn. I do not know. I am only a maiden, not a matriarch. In time, perhaps these mysteries will be made clear."
That made sense to Shali, and she bowed her head to Tol'riah. "Ever is the counsil of the asari wise. Thank you, justicar."
"It is my pleasure to give what little aid I may. Truth be told Shali, I am as disturbed by this as you. Is this the hero of legend? A man, not a god, who has lost his way so completely as to not know what even my daughter, barely out of swaddling, does? Was he somehow damaged, changed by the dark gods? I do not know, but it troubles me."
Shali turned her glowing eyes to look at the Shepard's still form. He seemed peaceful while he slept, though he snored rather loudly. "He seems a good man though."
"Indeed. And his hatred of the dark gods is real. His vow to fight them to his last breath was that of a man who would give anything, beyond even his life, to destroy them. His pain is real too, he mourns his lost lover and friends. He is a man Shali. Are you a woman?"
Her question shocked the quarian, and she whirled to face the justicar. "You think I would lower my veil so easily!"
"Peace, child. You are young, and you remind me of myself when I first met Galgo. You are not the first woman to make eyes at a mighty warrior, even if you hide it behind your veil. I do not question your modesty. I only wonder, what does he see us as? Lost children? Pathetic mortals? Does he see you any differently? He treats my daughter well, but she is not a woman, and he is no deviant. You though, you have no interest in Hart, and it has been said that many humans find quarian woman attractive."
There was some truth to that, not a few human sell swords who came to serve on the Wall went back to their lands with a quarian husband or bride. Out of all the half breeds, behind turian-quarian, human-quarian was the most common.
"I am not an uncouth woman." Shali muttered.
"I did not say you were. Only consider: a man must have something to live for besides vengeance. What, I wonder, is our savior living for? Death? That is not something that will keep him alive when hope leaves him, and I fear on our journey, it shall. Go sleep. I have said enough for one night."
Shali lay down, and to her embarrassment, her dreams were of baring her face to the Shepard. She could not see his reaction, for he wore an iron mask of hatred, looking only to the past.
He must see the future, my daughter. A voice whispered to Shali. He will have to choose. He already chose no choice once. If he does it again, we are all doomed. Keelah Se'lai.
