Starting Life From Another Choice Than Zero

Chapter 17 - A Task Beset

Time was a stagnant flow. What little light that slithered through the curtains made guesswork an unreliability. Audible sounds of the outside, an increase in volume of wheels treading paved stones. Evermore constant was also the stops and turns taken by the carriage, signs of a path diverted - but where he was he couldn't feasibly pinpoint.

Subaru drew a curtain slight, light overwhelming his eyes already accustomed to the dark, and saw slivers of familiarity. This was the same road Kris had traveled. Already, relief began coursing through him. This afternoon of strange encounters was drawing to a close.

"I'd close the curtains if I were you," said Irma, watching a small smile form on Subaru's face, "Unless you'd like to die of course."

His hand slackened, and the carriage was plunged to darkness once more. "How come?"

She jutted her head to a figure still in slumber. "Not very fond of sunlight. The way her eyes are, it'd be too much for her."

He recalled back. The pure murky white where her pupils should be, her stare absent of recognition. He realized she never actually once met his eyes.

"Wait, she's blind?" He said before he could stop himself.

"Not much for being delicate, are you now Subaru?" said Irma, her smile taking it all in stride, "She can still see... though what constitutes as seeing for her only she knows. Foggy, cloudy, blurry - that's all she ever spouts out whenever she tries to focus on something. Oh, and the sun basically causes her agonizing pain as if her eyes are on fire, so..."

They both stared at Ilma, her eyes obstructed by the black strands of her hair.

"Is it cause of her blessing?" asked Subaru, feeling a tinge of sympathy.

Irma sighed. "That's one answer. In that case, it's rather more of a curse than it is a blessing."

"But you don't have any downsides to yours, do you?"

"Not really," She said, thoughtlessly entangling a finger in the white threads of her hair, "Unless you count freaking people out at the sight of it as one. Then again, I've never shown it to anyone else, so I might get a more favorable reaction than yours."

Shortly after, finally, with a wheel's final creak and a gravelly huff expelling out the dragon's snout, the carriage heaved to a stop.

"This is you," said Irma, reaching a slender hand for the carriage handle.

The wallowing in darkness only exacerbated the glare of the scorching sun, as the doorway parted open, revealing a small crowd of citizens gathering to ogle distantly by the carriage side.

"Ilma would have loved to say goodbye," she continued, "But unfortunately she's a bit... preoccupied at the moment."

Vanquished darkness provoked Ilma's slumbering state, tossing to the side most dimly lit, and grasping numerous pillows to shelter herself with.

Subaru flung himself to the concrete below, mustering an ignorance to the bystanders increasing in numbers, and turned back to the carriage.

"I'd appreciate it if you told no one about me..." Subaru said, wearing a departing smile, "Honestly, I prefer a life where I won't be stared at wherever I go."

"You mean apart from the dozen or so people standing behind you?" Irma returned his smile and bid a wave, "Secret's safe with us. Hope to see you around, Subaru."

The carriage door swung closed, and off it went galloping to the swarms littering the streets, sight obscured by the masses.

Subaru felt a tap on his shoulder.