Sanctuary of the Odd

Chronicles of Panchi: The Control of Names

Did you know that Minutian Masters have a fantastic memory? It's technique #109 God's Recollection. It's the power to call upon any memory, even lost memories, assuming I know what to look for. Because of that, I can recall the day of my birth. I often look back, to try to figure out how everything went wrong. Of course, everything was broken from the beginning, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Tanglefoot Clan was going to be a big deal. Leahdah made a deal to form her clan on the Crossroads, a planet that had been neglected by minutians since the God War because the complete depravity that the Divine Rush had turned it into. Many saw minutians returning the Crossroads as a sign that peace had returned to the war torn world.

When a new Matriarch gives birth to a new clan, it's common practice for other clans to loan out their masters to help out the new leader in the early years of their clan's existence. These were called retainers. Because of the significance of her planting herself there, she got 10 of them, all from different clans. Two of them would leave before I was born because she kept making those two get her hot cups of scown juice. I don't think she fully understood what they were there for.

I didn't skim all these details from my recollection, btw. A lot of this was from my research after I had left the clan. Leahdah would keep a lot of this information far away from us. Honestly, if they others knew about all this, they wouldn't be so loyal.

The memory starts with me in darkness, until I found myself suddenly in the light. Moments of confusion and chaos and I'm eventually face to face with my mother as her giant arms held me tight. I still can't believe the first thing she said to me.

"Why it dark skinned?" She asked.

One of the retainers approached her and explained. "The genetics that come from feeding energy into your own womb is completely random. The baby can come out in any way."

"I don't know how I feel about that. It doesn't look a lot like me."

"Maybe you shouldn't be saying that in front of the baby."

"Oh she won't remember this."

Leahdah was a master herself, so she should know about Divine Recollection. Was this any early sign that she didn't think I'd become a master? Then again, she seemed to only remember things that was convenient for her. She could be playing ignorant.

"She does have my eyes, and my hair! That'll have to do! I'll always treasure her eyes and hair!"

"She's beautiful, Matriarch!" Commented another retainer.

"She is quite small." Mom said holding me.

"Seems the same size as any baby." Said the first retainer, scratching their chin.

"I will call her Pipsqueak!" She said, happily nuzzling up to me. "You're mine forever, Pippy!"

The other retainers looked at each other, than looked at me. I will never forget the looks of pity on their faces. Seeing that after obtaining the Recollection was the first time I started to realize that my life was far from normal for a minutian.

Typically retainers were supposed to stick around for 100 years. However, soon after I was born, my mom left with me in tow. Her excuse was that the Crossroads government was too constricting. Many of the clans that original praised my mother quickly condemned her for escaping her responsibilities, and her retainers left in disgust. They say the crime rate rose in the Crossroads soon after, but I don't have actual numbers to back that up.

For the first 70 years of my childhood, it was just Mom and I. We'd jump from world to world, going on crazy entitled misadventures while she taught me the art. Then one day, she decided to have more kids and we settled down on an empty planet where I would spend the remaining 80 years of my adolescence. At the time, I couldn't figure out why she randomly decided to have more kids but in retrospect it was obvious: I was on my way to become a full master and she knew I would have the right to leave the clan at that point. I wonder if she ever regretted teaching me all those techniques. I wonder if that's the reason the Tanglefoot Clan never produced anymore masters outside me.

The first one after me was given the name Pratty. She came up with the name when she saw that the baby had pale skin like her, invoking the words "pretty" from her lips. She would dress him up all dainty like and call him the "doll of the clan." I got along with him more than the others. He kinda looked up to me and loved hearing stories I had to tell about my adventures with mom.

The following three were Pseechophantia, Kessess, and Domatt, who became Mom's biggest yes men. Then there was Apathea, who just never seemed to care about anything. She just kind of darkened her own corner staring at her phone every time I saw her.

Today was my 80th birthday, my Name Day. This was when I had the right to choose my own name. I was excited, because the prospect of losing a name like "Pipsqueak" was the best thing that could happen to me. Mom gave me a list of suggestions, but I thought long and hard on a name I was actually pleased with.

The clan put together a party for me. Matriarch and Pratty baked me a cake. It was weird to get so much special treatment. Then the time finally came where I could pick my name.

"Alright, Pipsqueak!" Said Mom. "It's time you tell us what your new name is going to be!"

She made me stand in the middle as the rest of the clan formed a circle. With tension building, and emotion building in my chest, I said the name that was on my mind for weeks:

"Panchi!"

Pratty immediately cheered for me, but the others just stood there confused.

"Um... Pip- I mean uh-" Mom took a second to decide how to refer to me. "Dearie, why didn't you pick one of the names I suggested?"

"I didn't want any of those names, I want Panchi!"

"It would make your mother happy if you picked one of the suggested names." She said, looking more agitated.

"But I like Panchi!"

"What even is that name?"

"You know, like, Punchy, but replace the 'u' with an 'a' to make it less obvious."

"That name's really stupid." Said Kessess.

"Who could live with such a dumb name?" Said Domatt.

I tried to explain. "I mean, Mom called herself Leahdah, which is just 'leader' made less obvious. I worked on the same principal!"

"Don't talk back to your mother!" The Matriarch said.

"I'm not! I was just saying-"

"As clan leader, I revoke your right to a new name! From now on, you're still Pipsqueak!"

"Y-you can do that?"

"I can, and I did!"

"Matriarch is always right!" said Pseechophantia.

"Yeah!" Said Keesess.

I was cornered with no leg to stand on. Pratty wanted to say something, but he couldn't do anything against the orders of a Matriarch. All I could say was "Okay..."

Mom would commandeer the party to be about herself and I just tried to hide my tears from everyone.

I would look into it later. A Matriarch did have a right to revoke a name change, but only when I was a member of the clan. If a leader is inadequate, I had a right to transfer to a new clan or even form my own clan as an independent and change my name there. Of course, Mom had withheld such information from me.

The clan would really balloon up in the following years. By the time it was my time to leave, it was already in the hundreds. Pratty was the one that I was closest with, up until he left. Turns out, he felt more comfortable being seen as a boy. When Matriarch found out her pretty princess was going to get a masculine glow up, she preemptively banned him from picking his own clothes and changing his own name, which was enough for him to walk. I haven't seen him since.

For me, I held out until I reached adulthood at 150. I don't know why I stayed so long. I guess it was just sunk cost fallacy at work.