Until We Fly: The Guardian Legacy

Chapter 32: To Turn A Blind Eye

-Jake-

"What do you mean? Is something wrong with Köleil?!" James panicked.

I didn't wait for her to answer.
Just ran into the lift.

It seemed to take forever before I'd gotten anywhere near the top but the second those doors opened, I sprinted to her room.

In such a panic, I hadn't even realised that James had been behind me the whole time.

We burst through the door.

And she seemed...fine?

Köleil was sat on her bed beside Static who was holding some fresh bandages.

"Köleil? Is she alright?!"
James fumbled, pushing past me to get to her.

Surprisingly, Köleil's head perked up at his voice.

"...James?"

But I thought she was...

"Kö...you can hear me?"
He said, kneeling down before her and holding her hand, taking care to hold the fully bandaged one.

"James is here..." She smiled, entwining her fingers with his, "and Köleil hears his voice again..."

Even with her eyes tightly closed, I could see small tears welling up at the sides.

She was so happy to hear him.

"But how?" I asked, "That's not possible, it can't have just come back on its own like that. Static, what did you do?"

"...it's...it's better to have two that can hear average...rather than one good and one not at all."
She mumbled, not looking at me.

Static's hands still had small, barely noticeable sparks flickering along her fingertips.

I knew she'd done something.

"Static, can you not tell me how? Just so we know for the future?"

With a small sigh, she looked up at me.

"...remember...when I was able to...transfer my abilities to you? Able to share them with you? When I made you float? "

"Hey," James butt in, "Blank did that! She helped me breathe underwater when we had to get Ren."

"Ren?" I frowned, looking back at James.

"I'll introduce you soon. He's the Red Guardian. Blank got him to help us but he lived underwater so she held my hand and it was like her powers ran through me. It really was amazing."

"And Static shared her...floaty thing with me. But that's not the same as this, you needed constant contact for that."

"This is a far, far more advanced and higher form of that. A permanent gift of ability. As long as our hands touch every now and then, she can hear. The eyes, however..."

Static looked down again, gripping the bandage tighter.

"Eyes? Wait, you don't mean..."
My sentence trailed off, Static's empathetic expression already giving me my answer.

"James, move away for a second. Let Static finish."
I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

Once she had some space, Static began to wrap the bandages around Köleil's eyes, lifting her hair so they rested unseen beneath.

"What're you doing?!"
James shouted.

"She's blind."

"Wh...e-even so, why does she have to have her face wrapped like that?!"