One Name

"Let's stop playing games, shall we?"

The pregnant woman's voice was so decidedly hostile that it managed to destroy all of Severus's work in restoring the harmonious atmosphere that such a dinner should have.

There was no turning back now.

"What a stubborn hag..." the blood elf sighed, while Jin raised his voice, absolutely scandalized.

"Honestly, Tiara! Can't you see that she's trying to...?!"

But Tiara cut him off by slamming her fist on the table, while Lucahn looked at each person present, frightened, and Tristessa couldn't find a way to deal with the horrible feeling that was building in her chest.

She was very, so very angry…

"No, Jin! This was bound to happen no matter what!" the woman yelled. "If she has the nerve to feign dignity and lie to us right to our faces, I won't allow it! I'm not going to stand idly by and smile like an idiot!"

"What?! I-I'm not lying!" the girl yelled, unable to believe or understand what was happening. "Why would I lie about an apology?!"

"Stop with the acting, little bitch! You know exactly what I'm talking about, you servant of the Dark Lady!"

With that accusation said, everyone looked at Tristessa with different reactions.

"Again…" Jin couldn't believe it, his exhaustion causing him to cover his eyes with his hand.

"That's a very serious indictment, Tiara… What are your arguments for it?" Severus leaned back in his chair and took a sip of wine, still smiling amusedly. "Yes, a girl with a soul saturated with Discord came out of the forest, claiming to remember nothing of her life. You have the right to be suspicious. But you served in the military for three years, and I want to believe you managed to deduce that Tristessa has no training in combat, thaumaturgy, or even physical resistance. She's completely harmless; I even think Lucci could kill her if he wanted to."

"I-I don't…! Oh…" Lucahn looked away, unable to face his desperate new friend. He was trembling, frightened by the situation… Or was he frightened of Tristessa?

"I agree with you on that, Severus. I'll even tell you that the foul Divinity she possesses isn't enough to confirm my suspicions… Do you know who can prove me right? Lucahn, right here, right now." With an air of victory, Tiara stood up and placed her hands on her son's shoulders, who flinched at the touch. "Come on, my darling boy. Tell your father and Severus what you told me."

Everything was utter confusion. Only the blood elf waited patiently for the drama to unfold; it was Jin and Tristessa who couldn't understand what information Lucahn could provide to accuse the girl of being a follower of the Empire's enemies.

Tristessa herself was lost in a maelstrom of confusion and anger. She couldn't tolerate that woman's animosity any longer, determined never to give her the benefit of the doubt. And Lucahn... She couldn't even understand what she'd done to make her friend decide to ignore her and fuel his mother's paranoia.

She wanted explanations, and she wanted them now. Which was something Tiara provided when she finished her request to her son:

"Tell them the name Tristessa confessed to you yesterday. Tell them her mother's name."

A name. The primordial basis of identity and designation for everything. Something insignificant because of how generalized and generic the concept could be, but also powerful and overwhelming; not because of the name itself, but because of everything that could give a name a certain weight, like feats and achievements.

One name. Her mother's name, Tristessa initially thought out of inertia at the presentation of the argument in that dining room enveloped in the densest of silences, meant nothing. And she had to say it out loud, so as not to poison herself with so much indignation she felt.

"You've got to be kidding me... What the hell can my mom's name prove?! Huh?! My mom is... She's someone who did something bad, someone who committed a crime and is in prison! But she used to work in a hospital, helping people get better! Hell, even the patients call her Sweet Nurse, because she was so kind!"

Her screams were loud, breaking all the stillness in the house and spreading to every corner. Her outburst was accompanied by information she had forgotten, and without warning, it resurfaced from the dark waters of the ocean in her mind; those weren't scenes from her memories, but facts, impossible to deny because she knew they were the absolute truth.

"...still here, Tristessa?"

That memory was the only one, solid and immovable. A mocking, arrogant smile, behind metal bars. Almost in the dark, surrounded by cement walls.

Tristessa felt so much fury, multiplied exponentially by repeating that voice over and over again in her head, that from clenching her fists, her nails pierced her palms, and she began to bleed.

And everyone was looking at her. Everyone, without exception. Not understanding half of what she said; not understanding what a prison, a hospital, or a nurse was.

But waiting for her to say that name.

"What the fuck is wrong with all of you?!" Tristessa screamed, her eyes filled with desperation, staring at each person present, one by one. She expected nothing but antagonism from Tiara, and Lucahn was a nervous wreck, being in the wrong place for a boy his age. But Jin and Severus just waited, one covering his mouth with one hand and resting his arm on the chair, and the other, arms crossed, serious and without expressing any emotion. "You want to know my mom's name that much?! Good, I've had enough of that fucking bitch's pointless accusations! I'll tell you!"

The girl pointed an accusing finger at the pregnant woman, and smiling with a somewhat vile air, hoping to see her defeated, Tristessa opened her mouth and began:

"My mom's name is…!"

But it was at that moment that Tristessa had an idea. A terrifying one. Rationalizing a possibility she hadn't considered before...

What if her mother's name, which on Earth held no particular significance, on Nekrom meant something bad? Something to support an accusation like being a servant of the Shadow Queen?

It was a possibility, a very small one, but a possibility nonetheless. Like revealing that she possessed the ability to return from Death, which resulted in indiscriminate madness for some unknown reason, perhaps her mother's name could have an adverse effect... Deadly, given the magnitude of the accusation.

Tristessa licked her lips and swallowed hard, beginning to breathe rapidly and shifting her gaze from one to another. Everyone was waiting for her to say that name, but now... Now she was terrified of doing it. A bad feeling was telling her it was going to be a matter of Life or Death.

"…"

But she couldn't possibly know what fate had befallen her if she said that name out loud, as the entire house shook violently, instantly followed by an explosion and the destruction of the dining room walls and ceiling, sending debris and a cloud of dust flying in all directions.

Before she even realized what had happened, Tristessa was swallowed up by darkness.