[O] Week 191: Blindness

[Thanatyr]

Blindness
3,122 words

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
- Helen Keller​

Medical leave, Of all the words that could be on her file those stung the most. After all she was heading up entire teams of field medics, training them with the knowledge that she had gathered over the course of the last year. But instead of pouring over medical volumes to learn all she could for her post Ayako had spent the last few days tripping up and tripping on other agents in the tower.

Every day she tried to remove the oddly scarred patches over her eyes and every day she could feel the pervasive aura of something malicious lurking within. Rather than stealing her sight it infected it, glazing over the world with a white wash that caused her synesthesia to scream painfully every time she opened her eyes. So instead she wore dark glasses, taking small comfort in the fact that she could make out faint blobs of shapes for the few seconds at a time she could open her eyes for.

Lying on the bed in her grandparents’ guest house was an odd feeling. She still visited them of course, but never did she imagine she would be living back in the quaint villa. Even Kami was restless about not having quite as much free room, or the ever present birds that had enamored the feline.

Her grandmother was still overly worried about the day she showed up with a few agents. For such a small woman she had almost pulled Ayako by force to see a doctor until she was assured that her granddaughter had already sought out the best help. Only when her Grandfather sat down with the pair to listen about the entire situation did he finally talk her Grandmother down from hysteria.

Crimson flames that she could not see whispered away from another failed attempt to regain her sight, Ayako let her hands fall quietly to her sides. Soon furry paws rested upon her eyelids and were matched with the rhythmic purring of her faithful companion.

With a breathless snicker Ayako tenderly reached up and moved Kami onto her stomach. Careful not so much because the cat was easily scared, more so to prevent the habit of grabbing onto her spot with claws. After all, her eyes had enough difficulty at the moment without needing small puncture holes.

A small rap on the wooden door broke the relative silence of the simply adorned room and from the feeling she knew who was there. Moving to be sure her feet were firmly planted on the floor the blind medic set her cat on the bed and stood shakily, waving for her white cane. Even with the infernal sigil that branded her to society as being blind movement was still tricky. Who knew that sight was such a blessing except those that had it robbed away?

"Come on in Ojī-san,” she spoke clearly, already knowing why he was there. It was the same question every day as he went to the market for food, although she knew it was so her grandmother had the house to herself for gardening and priming for private functions. And every day she had declined. Perhaps today was a good day to join in trying to navigate the nearly vacant market that her grandparent’s preferred over the more modern supermarket down the road. If she could get used to that then Ayako hoped the tower wouldn’t be so hazardous.

"Oh, you’re actually out of bed? Does this mean?” the massive man that was her Grandfather spoke as if he already knew her intentions, "Well then, let’s get going. She wants some obscure type of fish today. Why? I don’t know. At our age all fish tastes the same, like fish. You know, when I was your age I would relish in the various flavors out there but I think that...”

Ayako let him ramble on as she uneasily made her way along side the former sumo wrestler, grabbing tightly onto his elbow as if she was but a child once more if not for his sake than for her nerves along the broken cobblestone path towards the market a few blocks away. Perhaps she could have asked to borrow a car from the garage, even a simple one, but that would raise too many questions with her grandparents about how a simple teacher could get a vehicle so quickly.

Overall their walk was enjoyable, with the shaky feeling of walking gone for the day. The medic could feel a small smile that had crept onto her face through the heat of the morning. In one hand she had a small bag of groceries, her arm was for the most part looped through her grandfather’s elbow or letting her fingers lightly dance across the surface of walls. One shopper had a bit of a run in with Ayako, but rather than getting angry they apologized profusely much to the protest of the redhead.

Walking blissfully through a shortcut in a tiny alley on their way back home the retired sumo stopped suddenly, "Damn, I forgot the fish. We should go back for it or your grandmother will be cross with me.”

"You go; I’ll only slow you down. Besides, it’s about time that stopped using this is a crutch. See you at home, okay?” Ayako smiled blindly in his general direction, taking the bags of food they had so far and waved her white cane in a graceful arc. Keeping the curb to her right the redhead slowly made her way down the street, stepping carefully around the odd bench or lamp post. More so she had to try and keep track of the number of city blocks that she was traversing to ensure she didn’t get lost, although keeping her other senses open and being aware of the Sougi Towers and the sheer number of people in either made thing a bit easier like a massive flag post in a sea of white.

Further down the street, under a train bridge and moving towards the blind woman, a group of half a dozen men in matching jackets stared perplexed at a small screen that looked to be a patchwork piece of machinery. The lead man holding would have been familiar to Ayako, his hair and the jackal patch on his shoulder would be easily recognizable had she had her sight.

Rather, he did not recognize her at first. Whether it was the simple clothes, the all black glasses surrounding her grey eyes, or the fact that she was catching onto using the white cane very quickly it was not known. His brown eyes were locked on the screen of his strange device and a blip that slowly came closer and moved directly passed them. He looked around with a bewildered look on his face, "That’s odd, the signal is moving away now. None of you that can see the things see it yet?”

Ayako froze in place as she instantly recognized his voice. A slow roiling boil raged down her spine, almost causing her to drop the groceries there and then. Quickly she gave a tally of the man and those closest to him before she knew that none of them would be much good as green horn recruits in the tower. There were some among them that must have been aware of the spiritual world for sure, but there was no way they had any manageable strength behind them. Then she felt it, what could be best described as a point vacant of all energy and yet craving all of it at the same time.

Another cylinder? she pondered, unsure on whether she should continue on or try to get more information on the strange pack of jackals. All the while the man was clueing into the fact that the energy signature so unlike the creatures he truly hunted was far more dangerous.

"Hey girl, don’t move. You might be in...” his eyes flickered from the screen to her then back again, taken by surprise he choked on his words, "Do I know you miss?”

"You do,” she smiled, waiting for the men to draw closer. Cautiously the blind woman set the bags of groceries under a nearby bus stop bench for safe keep and stood still. Reeling in the moment she spat out the words, "What did you do to my eyes?”

"Oh shit...” the man’s eyes went wide and with a shrill voice he nearly screamed, "That’s the bitch! That’s the woman who killed Tarou!”

"I did nothing of the sort, that damn flash bang you threw must have done something to him.” Ayako took in the sounds, easily hearing the rest of the men in their fruitless attempts to stealthily surround her.

Their leader, the shrill one, made no attempt to hide his movements as he stood in front of her. Likely he thought he was safe in front of a blind woman, that there was no way she could zero in on his location. Then he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Well then, maybe when we’re done with you your tune will change. Maybe we could even have some fun, how bou...” His hand started to move down and Ayako snapped. Her hands followed along his arms and gripped onto his shoulders with a vice like grip, the wind whipped in her red hair as the medic’s forehead shot forward fast enough to cut off his words in an instant.

Echoes of shattering bone were carnal and satisfying. She only wished she could see the look on the pervert’s face as he fell to the pavement. Holding onto that desire Ayako knew she had seconds to prepare for the attack from his comrades, throwing her right leg back to get into a defensive pose she called up her flames.

Everything began to happen at once. Three of the remaining pack of men cried out in rage and began to step forward. Two of them dashed towards their still falling comrade. And Ayako focused to be sure her foot landed with solid footing, focusing energy into being able to launch a viable defense. Upon her foot setting down an explosion of energy washed over the area. The men began to reel back, seeing a transparent wave but not the true flames.

Even as it washed over them Ayako’s senses came to life. What she was feeling wasn’t sight but instead she could make out the area around her and even behind. Her synesthesia gave simple audio queues as to the color of an object. As quickly as the pulse came it faded away, the shapes drifting out of her mind.

Quickly she reached out to one fading form of a man who was on the offensive. Her left leg snapped his knee into an unnatural angle the moment her open palm impacted and likely shattered his jaw. The world became dark once more, leaving the blind woman to rely on her ears to keep from getting a cheap shot to the temple or the like. Weaving between the pitiful reiatsu signatures the medic started a simple dance, evading to the side of where she could feel them.

What the hell did I do to be able to see like that? Ayako tried to focus on the rhythmic tapping of her feet, she tried to recall to the feeling she held onto when that strange pulse had taken place. Wait, it was a desire to see.

Standing still she stomped once and desired above all else to be able to see, to stop these idiots before she accidentally killed them. Energy built and cascaded outwards, revealing the men and the otherwise empty street. She held onto the feeling and sighed in relief as the clarity did not fade away. One man to her right charged ahead but stuck his head out too far; he earned a swift kick to the head that was measured to knock him out and hopefully no more. The two others that pressed had their clumsy swings parried and grabbed only to be wrenched together in a collision that knocked both cold.

Sparring with agents in the tower had given her one more trick that the medic had yet to use outside of spars, but now was as good a time as any. Gathering energy built up on her finger tips with two quick jabs into another man’s leg and shoulder. Coursing through his muscles the tendrils of energy partially paralyzed the muscles, slowing his reaction time drastically. That allowed her an even easier time knocking him down to the pavement, twisting his arm behind his back.

One arm grabbed the patch on his arm and ripped it off the jacket. She held the patch jackal insignia in front of him and whispered in his ear, "What group is this, and why are you tracking me?”

"Not you!” the man trembled, "We’re trying to save people from the shadow creatures. We trap them, use them for energy!”

"How.” She snapped, twisting his arm further.

"I don’t know, I swear it! I’ve only just been recruited. But we’re a good group, so Mr.” His words stopped short, realizing that he was saying too much, "You may as well kill me, I won’t give him up. He’s earned that respect.”

"I won’t kill you.” She slammed his head on the concrete once to knock him cold and pocketed the jacket patch. Normally this would have been an excellent time to call for these men to get picked up by other agents. Yet a crowd was starting to gather even as she had reached her bags, making her carefully use the white cane to navigate away.

"Miss, are you alright?” an officer rushed up, already fading as she let the pulse fade away.

"What happened?” she feigned fear and hugged her cane close, "All I heard was fighting from a bunch of men, I think it was a gang conflict so I hid at the side of the road. Did anyone see what happened?”

"No, there was no one else near. Count yourself lucky they didn’t try to pick on the blind woman. That could have gotten messy.” The officer remained close only long enough to grab her details.

Mentally chuckling Ayako steadily walked towards her previous path, only to realize that she had gone too far before, and taken a wrong turn. A left at one street corner followed by a right brought her back towards the route to her grandparents. She could already feel a familiar presence up ahead. Not that of her grandfather or grandmother, but still someone dear to her heart.

"Gwen!” Ayako called out as she pulled open the door, stumbling over a suitcase left in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh my little idiot,” the chestnut haired woman picked her young friend off the floor with a hug. With a push to arms reach Gwen pulled off Ayako’s black glasses and gently felt around the scar tissue that ringed her eyes. "How could you let yourself get hurt like this?

"I’m learning to cope,” the redhead shrugged before pulling on her glasses once more. Pointing in the direction of the luggage she smiled, "So do those mean you’ve come to visit on your leave again?”

"Actually no,” the British woman was smiling, Ayako could feel it. That never boded well, "Those are yours. Remember that promise I made you way back when? We’re going on a trip.”

"Where exactly was it we planned to go again? I’m pretty sure the moon isn’t a tourist destination yet but I would love that.”

"Well if you can’t remember rightly then I’m not about to spoil a perfectly good surprise.” Gwen led Ayako towards the couch, where her grandmother had already set out tea and her grandfather could be heard grumbling as he toiled away in the kitchen. Looking the blind medic in the eye was an odd choice, from habit most likely, "So tell me, you got the bastard that did that, right?”

"You could say that.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *​

"So gentlemen, as you see the operation is progressing smoothly.”

The speaker was clad in a white suit, his salt and pepper hair was neatly combed with a trimmed beard to match. Blue eyes shimmered in the light as he spoke over the video phone call. Every time he spoke with these investors they spoke from the shadows, but the always insisted on a video call. What a waste of time.

"Sir!” a soldier out of breath broke through the door before he could finish the call.

The white clad man always tried to avoid revealing too much but in a much more subtle way, hanging up on his financial benefactors now could compromise his startup operation too much. Turning his attention to the man who was still gasping for breath he smiled and asked with a veneer of calm, "What is it?”

"The scout troupe you sent out, Sir, they’ve been arrested!” The man held a hand over his chest that was still heaving, "They were beaten by some woman and arrested. But the cops didn’t do anything to her as she can’t see.”

"Am I to understand your handpicked units were taken down by blind bimbo?” a voice asked over the phone, "Not only that but the police took them away? Our patience is wearing thin.”

"A minor hiccup at best,” the suited man smiled towards to the phone. All around him grew calm and lightly lit by some unseen light source, "You have my word we will find the culprit and bring her to justice. In fact, I’ll see to it personally. Would that ease your fears?”

Silence answered his questions, broken a moment later by incomprehensible murmurs that preceded a simple sentence, "No need for you to get involved. We know a man. He’s pricey, but we can count that as part of our investment in your operation.”

"Thank you for your patronage! Will that be all?” his false smile was only slightly noticeable now, if they could see it on the other end no word was given.

"That will be all.” The screen went blank.

"See that those involved are bailed out and given full aid. Were there any casualties?” his blue eyes focused on the soldier ahead of him.

"One Sir, his skull... it looks like it was caved in by a bowling ball. His body is at the morgue awaig autopsy.”

"A pity,” the white suited man laced his fingers together and went back to his computer, working through a formula the soldier could not comprehend. He nodded to the soldier, "Get some refreshments, then back to work with you. Saving the world from itself is busy work.”