Lament of the Slave

Chapter 80: Drill

"You said it before...but, you weren't kidding?" Deckard asked in wonder, sizing me up with his gaze like he was seeing me for the first time. It startled me. In my defense and pride, I said something he shouldn't have heard. At least that was my first thought with a hint of panic. What if he figures out I'm not of this world? What then? Will he still want me as his apprentice?

Glancing up, seeing him standing there with his hand in his pocket and a laid-back attitude, I had to laugh at my own stupidity. Even if he found out, he wouldn't care and just take it as another oddity on me. Perhaps he would have found me all the more fascinating. And that was my biggest fear. That as soon as others find out, I'll become more intriguing to them, and my price will rise.

Though if only Deckard knew? Hmm...

I almost growled out loud, frustrated at my indecision. Should I tell him, or should I talk my way out of this? Sooner or later, someone's gonna put two and two together. He had already seen a few discrepancies in my backstory, only due to his attitude, he ignored them so far. Who's next? Who else will figure it out? An agent? I shuddered to think of the consequences.

Deckard snorted. "Are you offended? Right now, I can't tell what you're thinking at all."

Blinking, I realized I hadn't answered him. "No, I'm not, just..." Shaking my head, I stopped with the words stuck in my throat and lies on the tip of my tongue. I couldn't keep him in the dark forever. It would gnaw at my conscience, just like the revenge. Plus, I needed someone I could trust, someone I could rely on.

"Just?" he asked when I didn't finish my answer.

With new determination coursing through my veins, I took a deep breath. "Wasn't it in my file that Rayden gave you? My age, I mean." Not the confession of my origin. I know, I was hoping to see what he knew first.

"Could have." He shrugged. "I read through it quickly, skipped some parts. Look, if this is about me calling you g..." He said but paused as my raised tail, and outstretched wings stopped him.

"You know where I'm from?" I queried.

He frowned and searched his memory, putting two and two together. "Not from Little Earth, I guess?"

Here it was. I shut my eyes for a second, then shook my head. "No. I'm not. I'm from Earth." That's exactly what I told Captain Rayden back then. Only now Deckard knew I didn't mean the aptly named island state here on Eleaden. Hence his questioning gaze. "I'm not from this realm, dimension, the plane of existence, universe, I don't know..." I threw up my wings and clenched my fists, resorting to a term most familiar to me. "I'm from another planet."

Deckard squinted his eyes, saying nothing. The seconds of his silence dragged on like minutes. It was killing me. "And this planet you came from is called Earth?" His gruff voice made my ears twitch and my heart skip a beat tensely. "Like dirt?"

"Earth, Terra, Erde, Chikyu, to me, they all mean the same thing. The place where I was born and raised." Reminiscing, I started listing different names I knew for a small blue planet orbiting the Sun. Choking back tears, I nodded, half smiling. "Yeah, it means dirt."

Then, to make light of this poor naming sense of my ancestors, I shrugged my shoulders as well as my wings. "I know, not very original."

The moment a smile appeared on Deckard's face, I knew all was good. "What do you think Eleaden means?" he asked.

With a massive weight lifted from my shoulders, I shook my head, waiting for him to tell me. I didn't dare speak up, sure my voice would tremble.

"Actually, Eleaden are two words of an ancient language put together. The speech has long been forgotten except by a few scholars, with only a handful of names and words still in use today. Elea' Den. Land of the Men. Or Earth of the People if you want. So...we're in the same boat," he explained to me the meaning of the word. It was fascinating, no doubt. I'd definitely love to hear more. Though sometime later. There were more important things on my mind right now that I wanted to know the answer to.