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It was early in the morning when Auriëlle walked around the Omniversity again. It had to be. The air felt colder on her skin now. Give it an hour or so and it would warm up though. She also knew because there was no noise. Nobody was talking or walking through the halls. Overloading the few senses she still had to navigate around the world. In here she didn’t need the stick to move here. She knew the paths like the back of her head now. Her body moved on its own. Carrying her wherever she wanted to be. However, the further she got from her own bed the further she got from her known world. There were still places in the Omniversity itself she didn’t know like the back of her head.

Right now though, she had mastered the nearest outside gardens and the few plazas there as well. She was making her way towards one of the benches where she could sit and… do nothing really. In the last months, she hadn’t done a thing. She just thought about everything that happened. Would she have done things differently? No. No, not her. Then her mind carried her to Carn. She missed him still. Somehow every day a little bit more. Was he dead? Or was he dead like her? Would she ever hear his voice again? She thought about praying but really, what god would answer her now?

Especially after the revelation. When Oraelia, goddess of light, said she was marked forever as an enemy of light she thought it was just because of all the people she killed. Now it turned out that there was more. For months she had been under the blessing of the god of death himself. She truly was the anthesis of life then. Yet looking back on those months… they were amongst the best of her life. The months before the siege and the months before her reunion were filled with the one thing she loved so much. The feeling she got from razing Teperia was unlike anything. With every raid upon a Ketrefian sided village, she smiled more. If Oraelia had already marked her as an enemy, why not embrace it then?

“Morning… little one.” Auriëlle stopped jumping from unexpected voices. That became to tiresome. But not her body still did, out of pure reaction from the large, bellowing but hollow voice. “You… are awake… early. The sun… is yet… to rise.”

The sun wasn’t up yet? Well, that would explain why everything felt colder. “That’s good to know.” She said as she turned to look up to where the sound came from. She was standing in one of the large plazas. There had been statues here of something but she never figured out what.

“You… do not see… its absence?” The - what Auriëlle guessed to be titanic - creature said.

“I’m blind.” Auriëlle returned as she waved her hand in front of her face. “I can’t even see you. The Sun Goddess took my sight.”

She heard his shape move like stone grinding against stone. It didn’t speak. Instead, let out a soft rumble. “Of course.” It said slowly. “Mortalkind… see with… the goddess’ gift. I had… forgotten. My condolences… for losing… your sight.” Despite everything about it, it sounded gentle.

“Everyone sees with eyes.” Auriëlle noted dryly as she sat down. Might as well, if she was going to talk to a massive thing she couldn’t even sense. “Or with light. But she took that from me. Light will never let me see again. My eyes are fine it’s just… I got cursed.”

“I have… not heard… of her anger.” The titanic creature said. “My master… spoke with… kindness… and compassion… about her.”

Auriëlle scoffed. “You mean she’s so weak she won’t even act until after I slaughtered her followers. And then she just blinds me.” The sorceress wanted to pretend as if everything was okay. As if blindness wasn’t much worse than being dead. You couldn’t feel being dead. It was the end. The finish. One sharp bit of pain and you were gone. She didn’t believe in an afterlife. Blindness though, she had to live with that her entire life now, and it made her weak. So weak. In truth, the goddess had cursed her perfectly.

For a second it was quiet. Auriëlle didn’t mind. But a slight shift signaled the serenity was about to be broken again: “Sight… of light. I ask you… sorceress… how does… the world look… with… light?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Look around yourself. You’re going to see more than me.”

“Perhaps.” It said. “But not… how you… saw the world. My master… did not gift me… with sight… of light. My… supposed eyes… see the world… differently. Please… indulge… this one’s… curiosity.”

Well, it wasn’t as if she had anything better to do. It would be a welcome distraction from the usual thoughts on a day. “Everything is- was colorful. The plants were green. Treebark's brown. Flowers red and purple and yellow. Things swayed in the wind. Gems glittered in the light. Glittering is like… light sort of broke with them. With the right crystal, you could turn sunlight into rainbow colors.”

The titan grumbled softly. As if he was ruminating on the words. “Tell me… does the world… look solid? Or is it.. diffused?”

“That’s… It’s solid. Everything is solid.” She grabbed her own arm as she held it in front of her. “See this? If I saw, I would know exactly where my arm is. No blurred lines with light sight.”

“Fascinating.”

“You talk as if that’s special. How do  you see the world then?” Auriëlle asked.

She heard his body shift again. “I see… the world… differently. Right now… I see you… sweat wafting… off you. Your figure… blurred. I was… told that… mortals… have faces… I have… never seen… faces. Lines… shift. To me… you look… like a cloud… hiding a sun. And your sun… as hidden… as it is… is still… very bright.”

“Sounds… aetheric.” Auriëlle said. Now she was definitely curious. For the first time in months, she felt that siren song. That call to do something. A goal to achieve. Sight through something else than magic. “How did you come to see like this? And what are you actually seeing? Like I know I saw through light, so what do you use?”

“Yes… Aetheric. An accurate… word. I was.. born…like this.” The creature said. “Made… actually. I believe… I see… through… mana. That... which drives… your magic.”

For a second she was disappointed that it wasn’t a skill. But it could be. Nothing said that it couldn’t be. She started focusing and tried to think about seeing the thing before her. Not with light. She had tried and given up three weeks ago on that. Instead, she thought about something else. Like a visible wind flowing over him. Something that would touch his form and return it to her. It didn’t work. Not at the first. The creature kept still and quiet though. Seemingly content to let her try, or it had grown tired of their conversation.

She tried again. This time she heard the rustling of trees. No, too much. She didn’t want wind. She wanted something akin to wind. She wanted the mana in the air to flow, not the air itself. Again. Trees rustled. Again. She heard the wind softly whistling in her ear. Again.

“Maybe… mortals… are not… meant to see… the world… like this.” The figure interjected.

“I don’t care about ‘meant to’. I was meant to lead a crusade against monsters from birth.” Auriëlle said. She tried again. A frustrated gust nearly knocked her over. “Then I was meant to waste away in some cellar writing things down.” She tried again. Wind whistled again. “I was supposed to help people extort people.” She said and tried again. There was no wind now. Her mind focused. “Then I was meant to stay with the man I love.” Did she have to say ‘loved’ now? Wind remained quiet. “I was meant to do many things and I did all the things I wasn’t meant to do. A mortal was never meant to sunder the walls of Ketrefa. I was never meant to work for some thugs in some backwater shithole. Maybe I’m not meant to see the world the way you do. But that won’t stop me from doing it anyway.”

And yet, it didn’t come. The wind remained quiet. In the afternoon there wasn’t so much as a breeze around them. Auriëlle didn’t move though. Skipping lunch, she tried again and again and again. The titanic creature was apparently content to just sitting there and letting her do it. The two of them rare exchanged words now. Until the creature, Duxus, finally spoke up again.

“The sun… is low. You are… weakened… You should… eat… and sleep. Tomorrow is… another day.” The hollow, bellowing sound had become familiar now.

For a second she wanted to sneer, but it- no he, was right. Her stomach grumbled and her mind didn’t want to think about things anymore. She was sure she was close though. So sure that she could see again. “I’m coming back tomorrow.” She said as she got up again, supported by her stick. “You better be here tomorrow. So I can see you. And I will see you, Duxus. That’s my promise. I’m going to see you.”

“I… will be here… for four… more nights. Then… I must go… but I will... return.” Duxus said.

Four nights? Which meant four more days of time. She would find a way to see the way he did in four more days. She was sure of it. Really, how hard could it be to see through magic for someone like her?
[hider=Summary]Auriëlle is having an early morning stroll as she ponders upon everything that happened (again). She misses people and then thinks upon the god of death’s gifts in relation to everything else that happens. Accidentally she approaches Duxus. Who is surprised to see anyone awake at such an early hour. Auri doesn’t know what time it even is because she couldn’t see that the sun wasn’t even up yet.

Duxus and her talk a little about sight. Specifically, Duxus asks how mortals saw the world with light. Auri describes it and then asks how the titanic creature saw the world. Duxus describes it and it’s vastly different. He says his mastered created him to see through Mana. Which gives Auri an idea. She tries it as well, or rather she tries to push mana against Duxus and then send back the signals. It’s not working, and at night her body protests too much and she has to go. But she swears she will return to see him.[/hider]
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[b]Post Length:[/b] 8.9K Characters
+4 Prestige >> Auriëlle
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