The country was going through a heat wave, and people were trying to wear the bare minimum. Those who loved the sun deserved to be hospitalized… even schools were canceled for Gods'sake. Countless parents were forced to leave work just to get their kids, after all, they had that simple obligation to do what was right.
And yet, standing in front of those massive and seemingly indestructible red gates was a lone teenage girl. Waiting without any motion, afraid of losing her bearings. What if she started to walk only to move toward the road?
Her only hint was the warm – almost too warm – feeling of the sunlight against her skin.
After all, Cassie was blind.
Crippled by the Nightmare Spell as payment for its gifts, one she never asked for. Compared to the world around her, she was the exception – an anomaly.
Covered to leave as little skin visible as possible, hoping that her bruises would be left unseen. It had been a week since she had survived her First Nightmare. Seven days of discovering how much life could be scary while forced in complete darkness.
She had collided with so many things that she had started to grow numb to them. But her body… It kept tabs on every shock and fall she had suffered.
Over the days, Cassie had cried from dawn to dusk… because she wasn't stupid. She knew. If trained people without handicaps had already died during their first solstice, then what about her? She had almost no Memory, and her Aspect… That damn Aspect.
It was all because of that thing that she was in that situation.
Being blind wouldn't be a problem if only her Aspect wasn't that useless.
She had been forced to mourn everything she wouldn't be able to see. The beauty of her everyday life had been taken away.
The faces of her parents and her own.
Her dresses and her hairstyles.
Her favorite books and her favorite drawings.
Have you ever thought of the fear that you would feel if, right now, someone were to spontaneously take your sight away? She never did before; after all, she was too young for that; she had so many things to see, watch, and discover. Or have you ever thought of how much it would impact your life?
For example, pouring yourself a cup of water. Have you ever tried to do it without looking at the cup? She had discovered by herself that she could simply put the tips of her fingers over one edge inside it to feel when the water was reaching her desired level.
No, that was too simple.
Then what about dressing herself? What if the colors were a mess? What if she wore something close to a rainbow without knowing it, and people would mock her? She had to throw away every piece of clothing that would stand out too much. And even for that, she had to ask for help.
No, even that was too simple.
How was she supposed to move around? She had to memorize every road she would and would not cross, just to prevent any chance of her acting like a lost puppy.
But what about the travel itself? Because it wouldn't be free of obstacles. There were people, walls, stairs, or simply trash left behind. She was regretting ever doing it now, acting as if a chocolate milk can on the floor wouldn't kill someone.
Now she was praying that everyone had more selflessness than she did.
Of course, she had thought about staying at home with her parents until solstice. Why should she have to face this world after all? A house was far easier to memorize than an entire city, right?
All that fancy plan, only to be dropped two days ago. She had fallen once more; unable to sleep correctly since her First Nightmare, it was normal for her to be half asleep. She had dropped her bowl of milk, and she didn't even know why; she had just…been stuck on the floor as her eyes started to weep.
And it was not the embrace of her dad that had woken her up from that pseudo-trance, but it was the fact that she felt his tears rolling against her cheek. She couldn't even see her father's tears, and yet, he was shedding them. It was at this instant that she understood it: she would torture her parents by being in that state around them.
She was destined to die in less than six months, and the best she could do was not be a constant reminder to those who cared for her. So Cassie had decided that she would pass her remaining time at the Awakened Academy.
Someone had once said that the human's mind was its greatest tormentor. But what was worse? Imagining that your daughter was possibly suffering and having a chance of maybe being able to find a solution to her precarity or… Seeing her every day, morning, afternoon, and night, being crippled and knowing that there was no chance?
Well, Cassie knew that she was doomed, but she at least wanted to make it easier to handle for both her parents. That's why she had asked someone to drive her here; she couldn't bear their cries any longer, and asking them to drop her at the academy would have driven the last nail into their coffin... And hers too, by repercussion.
It was only after a few minutes of standing silently that she heard footsteps. Distant at first, they grew louder as the reason she had waited that long had finally arrived. The gates were moving, opening themselves like an unsaid invitation to enter its premises.
[???]:"Cassia, I presume?"
'Is there any other blind girl around? Huh? Of course, it's me.'
Keeping face was already hard at home, but the more time passed, the angrier she got. She had accepted the fact that her life had an expiration date attached to it, so it was getting harder for her to just… care about all that.
After all, she had decided to come in here only for her parents. Rules and logic don't apply to dead people, right? And that's why you don't stop your dog from eating chocolate an hour before you put it out of his or her misery.
That rule was applied to all those close to death's door. From the elderly to the sick… And she would be on that list too, sooner or later – if she was not on it already. Even the Academy's administration, teachers and supervisors alike… They would surely try to help her, to let her know that she had a chance to survive. From their desire to save a life to pure pragmatism, Cassie couldn't care less.
And yet, she had decided that for the first day, she would be calm. So she simply gave a little nod toward the voice. Weirdly enough, if she had to determine the age behind it, she would have placed it around hers.
[???]:"Good. Starting today, I'll be your guide around the school. And before you make any false assumptions, I will be your guide. Not your assistant. It is not my duty to "help" you, there will be other people chosen for that."
The voice was speaking close to her face in terms of height. Something about it was missing; it sounded almost as if you had removed what made it human. But its most prominent feature was that exhaustion. The vibe from that man was… It was a man, right?
[Cassie]:"Noted."
[???]:"With that out of the way, I've been told that your blindness was due to your Flaw, so I presume that you don't know how to read Braille yet."
[Cassie]:"Excuse me but… What's your name?"
'It sounded way harsher than I wanted to. Well, he deserved it for being Captain Obvious.'
The guide had stayed silent for a moment, as if he had been taken aback by that question. Cassie wouldn't know, but she sure would have loved to see his surprised face.
[???]:"I'm John."
[Cassie]:"Okay, let me make it easier for you, John. I don't know how to read Braille. I've been falling almost every ten minutes, and I'm a seer without any other utility traits to help me. So, to put it simply, don't ask me to play the part of the young woman who still has hope. I'll live my life my way until December, and then I'll die in the middle of nowhere."
She had surprised herself; she would have thought that there would be more anger in her voice. But it sounded cold, and almost cool, if not for the part where she was doomed. It was almost laughable; she had survived her First Nightmare, only to be stuck like that.
The world was surely punishing her; she couldn't imagine it any other way.
She was blind, and her Aspect was useless.
After all, Fate had been broken for almost fifteen years now.
The seer's community had been rendered useless, unable to see the future. Only those from the first generation were able to share what was considered normal before. To have dreams of the future, cryptic and sometimes hard to decipher. They couldn't have a night without having a vision. From sometimes just a few days ahead to entire years.
Before, seers were respected and feared; now they're just a burden. But not all seers were equals; some were lesser seers, and by such, the price of their Flaws was also lesser. They wouldn't be disadvantaged; they would just need to depend a lot more on their Memory.
Cassia had won the jackpot; she had gained a Sacred Aspect.
One that depended on Fate to be able to work at all.
The only thing she could do with it was to see blurred text where people stood. It worked only on people infected by the Nightmare Spell, and the length of the text varied for each person, so she had deduced that her Aspect was using personal information to work. But what it could tell, she had no idea.
For example, that o' so nice John over here had, like, four blocks of text for him, and she wasn't even able to read a single letter from it.
So, yeah… Forever blinded, an unusable Aspect, and no Memory to help her at all. She only had what? Something to drink off, a rope, and a walking staff that makes wind? The last was surely the cherry on top, as if the Nightmare Spell was just…mocking her.
'Really… A walking staff?'
It has been a while since her guide had said anything, right? If what she said was too much, she…would surely feel bad about it.
[John]:"Anything else?"
…
He wasn't mad from the sound of it.
Good.
Because now that… all that was out of her system, she felt almost like she used to. Almost.
[Cassie]:" I'm sorry if I was hard on my words… And yes, may I ask to hold your hand or simply walk slowly? Both would be perfect. I know for a fact that I can't walk at a normal pace with my walking stick. Is it possible?"
[John]:"Of course, it is. And no need for you to be sorry, you're not the first one who got screwed by the Spell, and you'll surely not be the last. Now… your hand, please?"
On one hand, sparks of white light were birthed from nothingness. Growing and gathering in silence into a familiar form. Something long and non-homogeneous, revealing a staff-shaped piece of wood. She wished she could say that she wasn't already used to summoning her Memory, but [Riverborn's Wind] was already like an extension of her being.
With that on one hand, she finally raised her other toward her guide. In a gesture that was both slow and soft, smooth against the air. Only for it to be grabbed in the same manner.
And so, they both started to walk the path across the bridge.