Maria has decided she hates trees. And there are a lot of them around The Willow. Well not the trees themselves but the fact she cant see the trees. It was incredibly annoying and it hurt. A lot.
Maria had arrived at The Willow two weeks earlier and was slowly recovering with the help of Daphne and the other healers. Though unfortunately her sight was not getting better. In her mind it was getting worse. She was becoming slightly better at sensing the things around her but she still bumped into things sometimes. Especially trees. Trees gave off around the same aura as grass did and grass was everywhere. Daphne suggested she used a walking stick to help her. Maria tried but it didn't always help. Well it did help. Every time she used it. Which wasn't very often because when she woke up she sometimes had a hard time finding it.
Sometimes she wondered what The Willow would look like if she could see it. From her understanding it looked what it sounded like. A big weeping willow tree.
From the information she had gathered from her new roommates was that when Daphne deemed her well enough she would begin her training. When she had asked about her training Avis had sagely replied "you will know in due time." then returned to her usual energetic manner. It was an odd experience indeed.
In the two weeks she's been at The Willow she has gotten to know her two roommates rather well. Avis was very energetic and always running around. She was
13 years old, two years younger than Maria. Then there was Chain. She was much calmer than Avis. Chain wasn't her real name. Though Maria doesn't know her real name. She's learned that pretty much none of the kids at The Willow went by their real names. When she had asked why no one went by their real names Chain said because these names are their real names. Chain said that these orphan names are given to them once they show their talent.
Yes, orphans. The Willow is an orphanage. A very big one. And there are three other orphanages. From what she's been told the purpose of the orphanages is to protect the land of Terra from Him. Who He was, well Chain said that when Maria was better she would learn everything she needed to. Well in her opinion that couldn't come any sooner.
But today was a special day. Today was the day she would start her classes. If that is, she could find them. She was currently sprawled on the ground rubbing her forehead after hitting a rather painful tree for the third time that day. She was pretty sure it was the same tree she hit last time. She felt incredibly stupid at that moment. Because she had her walking stick with her she just for some reason could not (or did not) use it.
"Are you okay?" A voice behind her asks.
"Yes. Thank you."
"I've been watching you for a bit and you keep bumping into trees. What's up with that?"
Now usually Maria knew when there were people around. She could sense their presence and she could hear them. But whoever this person was escaped her senses.
"Oh."
"Soo, are you going to tell me what's up?"
"I'm blind."
"Well that doesn't really make sense why you're bumping into trees when you have a walking stick."
"I'm still getting used to using it. I've only been blind for a few weeks."
"Oh. Not to be rude but what happened?"
"Well my house blew up and from what Daphne has told me the flash of light made me blind." Maria can feel herself tear up a bit at that. She has told that story many times and that house and the people in it never meant much to her but she still used to call that place home.
"Well we all have a backstory. Do you want me to help you find your classes?"
"Yes please."
"What class are you going to?"
"History of Magic. My teacher is Professor Willhem? I think."
"Yeah that sounds right. That used to be one of my favorite classes. We are going to pretty much the same place."
The person -Maria realized she still didn't know their name- reached down to help Maria up.
"You said that it used to be your favorite class. Why isn't it your favorite anymore?
"I don't take classes anymore. Well sometimes I like to sit in on them for a bit of a refresher but I don't need to anymore."
"Why?"
"Like I know others have told you we can't tell you everything your mentor Daphne will tell you when she decides she wants to."
"Well I think that's stupid."
"If I'm being honest I agree with you. Just don't tell anyone I said that. Well this is your stop. I am excited to meet you again, Maria Montere."
Maria was about to enter the class when she realized something. She never told them what her name was. And they never told her what their name was.
"How do you know my name?" But she knew that whoever that person was, they were already gone.
⇌
"Well what are you smiling about Robin?" Peril snapped.
"Well I think I may have found a new edition to our team dear Peril."
Peril just sighed. And got up from her desk to look out the window. At the moment they were in her office in the Calico Castle where Peril was dealing with another territory expansion. She really didn't feel like dealing with new recruits at the moment. No matter how much they needed them.
"And just who may that be, dear Robin?"
"Maria. Maria Montere."
"Isn't she the new blind girl? Daphne told me about her. Something about how she's special. They always say that. But I'm guessing because she caught your attention there is indeed something special about her?"
"Yes I believe so. There's something about her that I don't quite understand. There is something in her. I don't know what and I don't think she knows either."
"By the Gods. You said the same thing about Karma."
"And?"
"And you were right. But you also said the same thing as Kalia. And now we don't know where she is. But I'm going to trust you on this."
"Thank you. We are going to have to wait though. She just got here."
"I know."
Peril turned from the window and looked back at Robin.
"Robin."
"Yes?"
"You are relieved of your duties for today. Go home and get some rest."
As Robin left he smiled to himself. He knew this new girl was going to be fun. There was something about her that confused him. She was hiding something. Even if she didn't realize it herself. And he also knew that Peril's interest was piqued. Even if she wouldn't admit it.
⇌
History of Magic was a good class. It was interesting and the other kids in the class were very nice to her. Many of the kids in the class also had some type of sight problem.
She found as she went through her day that in all of her classes all of the other kids had sight problems. She shared many classes with the same kids and she quickly got to know them.
When it was time for lunch one of the kids named Oak invited her over to Oak's dorm to eat. Even though Oak could barely see, she was a surprisingly good cook. According to her it was because even though she couldn't see well her parents decided that she should still be able to survive on her own. So even though it was harder to teach her they taught her anyway. That is before they died.
When Maria asked what had happened to her parents Oak had told her that her mom had fallen ill and not recovered and her dad went to jail for theft because they didn't have enough food and died of starvation while he was there.
When Maria had expressed her sympathies Oak had just said "I have grown accustomed to life without my parents or my biological family. I still miss them and grieve for them but I know they are now in a better place and I have found a family for myself. Soon you will find your family and you will grow accustomed to your new life here."
Those words stayed with Maria for the rest of the day and when she got into bed the last thing she thought of was finding her own family and living her new life.