Identity Ceremony

Bethel sat, hands clasped on their round dinning table. A cooling cup of coffee sat beside her. She'd taken maybe one sip.

Her oldest child, Vaa, sat asleep in a chair beside her. Not that oldest was saying much. She was three.

Outside, her husband Nev was marching their younger child around the garden, trying to calm him down. He would normally be working by now, but he'd understandably been given the day off. If it was a normal day, Bethel would also have taken both kids to the nearby park. There was an area for very young children like her own. They could run off some energy, and the other parents there could help keep an eye on them. But it was not a normal day, and they wouldn't be doing that either.

Nev had tried to reassure her before he went outside that today was fine. That it was normal, and not even really a big deal. But the way he'd stayed active all morning, she knew he was nervous too.

Today was Vaa's Identity Ceremony. Bethel wasn't too sure what to expect. Vaa was their oldest, meaning they'd never done this with another child. And Bethel certainly didn't remember her own ceremony. She'd been three.

She was pretty sure Nev had been to the ceremony for his younger brother. The fact that he knew what to expect, and was still nervous, did not reassure her.

There was a knock on the door. It was the babysitter for their youngest. Bethel made sure she understood what to do, and where everything was. At least, she tried her best. She was a bit distracted, naturally.

There was another knock on the door not long after. Probably for the best. It would be awkward if she and Nev just hung around while the babysitter was there. And Bethel wasn't sure she could stand much more waiting.

She took the sleeping Vaa in her arms, and she and Nev went to the door. Princess Raven, current and recent ruler of the country, stood at the front door. She had unnatural blue hair that you had to be wealthy to afford. Her clothes were fancy even if they were clearly made for riding, and the symbol of royalty was displayed as a ring around her finger.

She was also shorter than both of them, had a soft round face, and a kind smile. The only person she'd brought with her was some sort of scribe, who was long and lean, and unarmed. Bethel tried to let that put her at ease.

Bethel and Nev didn't have horses. Princess Raven had brought two they could borrow. They mounted, and headed for the edge of the city.

"You're nervous," Princess Raven observed, partway through the city.

"I, well," Bethel sighed. "Yes, your Highness."

"Well, this is the first time I've done an Identity Ceremony on my own. I'm nervous too."

Bethel looked at the princess. She had recently taken over. There was a reason her title was still "Princess." And she was different than the two rulers before her. They'd been stricter, distant. If they did something helpful, it was based on practicality. Not that this was a clear line between the good ruler and the two cruel ones. There were some who thought Princess Raven was too soft. They pushed their luck with what they were allowed to do, or worried about where her help was coming from.

Then, Vaa woke up, and put an end to that thought. Bethel let Vaa play with her long hair coming down, and promised they would get a pie when they were done. One of the small individual pies the baker on their level of the city baked.

"Ye!" Vaa cheered. She hadn't quite gotten the hang of "yay" yet. "Pie!"

The group left the city, exiting onto a road near the ocean. But they didn't go far down that road. There was a cave on the right now far from the city gates. They entered that.

It opened into an unusually round cavern, with an unusually clear pool.

Princess Raven took a vial from her scribe. "Now, Vaa, I want you to spit in this."

Vaa looked at the vial. "Spit?"

"Yes. You get to spit."

Princess Raven was probably trying to be encouraging, but Vaa was not very good at spitting. She dribbled down her chin. The princess scraped the vial, gently, against her chin, collecting it.

"I don't remember that in my brother's ceremony," Nev said.

"Well, just about any liquid would work," Princess Raven said. "We could use tears or blood, for example. But since she'd neither crying nor bleeding, let's not."

She let the spit fall into the pool, and the water lit up.

"Ah," Vaa cooed, eyes going wide.

Bethel set her down, so she could see the pretty lights, and so Bethel could watch without worrying about the toddler in her arms.

This was it. The Identity Ceremony revealed who you were in your past lives, if you had any. And Vaa must, or the pool wouldn't have responded.

The earliest you naturally started getting any memories from past lives was age eighteen, but you could get your Identity Ceremony as early as three. And that's what the country had done as far back as Bethel knew.

Nev had tried to tell her it wasn't a big deal, and in some ways, he was right. Most people were ordinary in their past life. Farmers or fishers. Cleaners or crafters. They got married and had kids, or lived alone or with a pet. They had their job and their hobbies, their friends and their families. They got old, and they died. Their past lives might influence them when they got some memories back, but hardly in any way the government would be concerned with. The ceremony would show that, and then the family would go home. If they did anything else special to mark the ceremony, that would be the family's choice.

But sometimes someone's past life would be significant. If it was significant in a good way then good, great. Maybe Bethel would see if they could afford two pies. If it was significant in a bad way. . .

Images began to flash on the water. There was a girl, growing up in a small house with a lot of children. She seemed to be the oldest of six, if Bethel was counting correctly. There was a funeral, while all six were still young.

Then, the oldest girl pretended to be a serving girl, going into a mansion and leaving with her pockets fuller than before. There was an image of someone going down the stairs, to see a cloaked figure in the living room. The view didn't provide the person's face, as they jumped out a window a second later, but Bethel had pretty good idea who it was.

The pool didn't completely invade your privacy. The images it showed to other people always seemed to have at least one of person in them, and never showed intimate moments. You already knew you were being watched, in other words. So there was a limit to what they were shown. But it was still clear to Bethel what was going on.

A first and last name, in glowing letters, rose to the surface of the pool. It was like they burned away the images. The name stayed for a little longer, the scribe hastily scribbling it down in his book. Then it wisped away, leaving an ordinary, if very clear, pool.

Bethel shook, her hand going to her mouth.

"Oh," Nev said.

Because this was it, wasn't it? Worse case scenario. Well, she supposed it could've been worse. Her little girl could've been a murderer or some such. But she had committed crimes, and not something like stealing gum when you were five. It seemed she'd made a career of being a thief. And the pool had shown that to all, including the ruler of the country.

Speaking of, Princess Raven stepped between them and the pool, as if there were still images to block. As if stepping in front of the pool would help with that.

"Okay. I know this looks, not ideal," Princess Raven said. "But thievery isn't the worst crime in the world. And it seems she had her reasons."

"So that makes the crime okay?" Nev snapped, interrupting her. The ruler. "You going to look the other way on stealing now? Can't wait until word gets out the ruler is fine with robbery."

"Do not misunderstand me!" Princess Raven shot back, standing to full height. "When harm is done, there must be recompense."

She drew in a deep breath, and returned to her calmer, kinder attitude. She clasped her hands together. "But think about what you're saying. She is no a master criminal. Or even a petty thief. That, is your toddler daughter." Princess Raven gestured to Vaa.

Vaa was nestled close to Bethel, clinging to her pantleg. She wasn't crying, but her eyes looked wet, and she whimpered slightly. She couldn't possibly understand everything that was going on. But the visions in the pool might've intimidated her. Or perhaps the raised voices had.

And Nev hadn't noticed. But Bethel was ashamed to admit, she hadn't either.

"Oh," Nev repeated. "Oh Vaa, I'm sorry."

He scooped her up and started muttering more apologies, and little nothings.

Bethel turned to Princess Raven. "What happens next then?"

She didn't want to ask, but it had to fall on someone to do so.

"For you, nothing." The prncess shrugged. "I will look into the name that appeared." She nodded to her scribe. "If my predecessors caught and punished her, I'm sure they were sufficient." Based on her tone, "excessive" was more the word she was looking for. She was just being tactful. "If not, then I suppose something must be done. I've seen people use reincarnation to get out of crimes before, unfortunately. But. It will be something that fits the crime and situation. And it will not happen until your child is at least eighteen, when she starts getting memories back and can in any way be considered the same person. I assure you, I have no intention of taking her away or locking her up forever."

Bethel had heard stories about that kind of thing. The government punished people for their past lives, or tried to scare them into not being criminals in their new lives. If the crime was bad enough, they were kept locked up somewhere. Since killing them wouldn't work out so well, the goal was to keep them alive and locked up as long as possible.

Bethel wasn't sure how much of that was true, and how much was hyperbolic. Stories meant to scare or excite their audience. But either way, she was genuinely grateful nothing like that would happen to her daughter.

But, she couldn't help feel some of Princess Raven's weakness as a leader was shining through. If Vaa's past life had never been punished, if something had to happen in this life, she was asking Bethel and Nev to wait fifteen years, knowing their daughter would face some sort of consequence, and not knowing what. Did she have any idea what that would feel like? Did she think Vaa would never notice anything strange? Even if they chose not to tell her?

Still, unlike her husband, she wasn't going to argue with the ruler of their country.

"Thank you, your Highness."

She turned back to her family. Vaa was no longer whimpering. In fact, she was bouncing in Nev's grip, and looked a little impatient.

"Pie?"

And for just a moment, Bethel's fears of the future fell away. She managed a genuine smile, free of worry or nerves. "Yes Vaa. We can get pie now."