THE BLIND GIRL
And all the world went black.
One moment she was seeing a corpse that had her face and in the next there were no faces altogether. There was no light, no life. Just unfathomable darkness. Amidst all the dark shadows one thing became clear. This was not something that was just happening to her. Unlike the rest of her life, she was not a victim this time. She had earned what she got.
Call it her punishment or her penance, it was a debt she owed to the Many-Faced God. She understood that all too well. What she failed to grasp is why take away her sight. She was clearly not fit to serve. Why not just throw her out after the disappointment she has brought her friend. But Jaqen wasn't a friend. That was the last thing she had heard before the series of horrific discoveries began. That was the last thing told to her before she lost her control and was swept out of her wits by the turmoil of faces taken off from Jaqen's corpse... Or... Her corpse.
Was she dead? That couldn't be it. She could still feel life. A lightless life, yes, but life she felt. Purgatory then? Was she summoned to this limbo to pay for her sins? Stealing from the Many-Faced God, Jaqen had called it. Was she then being punished for theft or was this the next step of becoming no-one?
"Who are you?" A familiar voice questioned. Jaqen's voice. No, not Jaqen. There was no Jaqen. Or maybe there was a Jaqen - A Man without a face. Relief and disappointment washed through her as she picked her words with excessive caution.
"A confused soul" she spoke, unsure of the consequences of her unusual response.
"Still not no-one?" she could hear the calm sarcasm of his voice. Normally, she would answer that she was, in fact, no-one, just like her friend. But losing her sight had made her see that she was not no-one. She couldn't be no-one. Not yet. Not until the fire in her subsided, or at the least, made way for other thoughts.
"Far from it" she answered honestly. The next few moments, for they were not torturously prolonged, passed in silence.
"Do you wish to attain a better state, A Confused Soul?" All she could do was nod and heard a sigh in return.
"Let us begin with a few questions then" she knew this was the time - to venture into dark corners and see herself for what she was. No longer a child. not a woman either, no. She was wrath, hate, revenge, sorrow and loss. And now was the time to get cleansed. Not with fire, not with ice but with a mirror that would show the blind girl all that she needed to see.
"who killed the man in the white cape?" She forced herself to get the words out. "Arya Stark" she said with her head slightly bent.
"Who broke the rules and abandoned the assigned duties?" Despite of her prepared stance, the words managed to cast a stinging effect on her.
"Arya Stark" she repeated, feeling the failure and a fresh forged desire to redeem herself in the eyes of the Many-Faced God.
"Is A Girl ready to burry Arya Stark then? Or does she have some other possible course of action in mind?" That was not a question she saw coming and that was definitely not something she was prepared to answer.
Was she ready for Arya Stark to be buried?! The horror that had seized her was proof enough that she wasn't. She had, or she thought that she had, made peace with the idea of giving up Arya Stark but burying her was an altogether different business.
She now saw the futility of it all. In her eccentric rage to attain revenge and punish those who have wronged her, she had wrongly assessed this bargain with the Many-Faced God. She was not here to get his assistance in achieving her goals but to serve him and fulfil her It was now that she realised that the Faceless God had work for her; not for Arya of House Stark but for the Bling Girl seeking answers.
But then what about the work she had taken upon herself. It all came haunting her like a ghost; wrapping its arm across her and suffocating her in its clutches. Her father's head being chopped off with Joffrey smiling in all his evilness, Sansa begging helplessly for help, Yoren holding her tight and finally pressing her face to his side. That man did save her the grief and horror of the head actually coming off the body but still she had seen it. Not literally, yes, but she had seen. And NOW she is blind.
The next incident that came to her seemed to further twist the knife between her bones. The loss of her Mother and brother was not something that she forgot even for a moment, the screams coming from the gathering as she stood outside watching Robb's Direwolf being shot and northern men being butchered like helpless sheep. Every blow on her northern men increased the degree of helplessness she felt. All she thought on her way was the relief that she would see on her mother's face when she ran into her arms and now she could picture the sheer lifelessness that would take over Catelyn's features when the Lord of Death got her.
After that night, Arya gave up all hopes of seeing her family members ever again. Yes there was Jon and she wished she could meet him but by the time she decided to step on that boat to Bravos, Jon had become a distant desire. She did not wish for him to die and so she gave up the thought of trying to reach him for she had seen the fate her family members encountered every time she tried to reach them.
Then there was the joy of killing that surrounded her. The Hound had once told her that killing gave pleasure. She had been repulsed by the idea then. But tearing up Meryn Trant with her blade had convinced her of the truth of those satisfaction that she found in brutality made her light up with joy and cringe with the shock of that joy at the same time.
But all the pain, separation and sorrow had not prepared her to give her self altogether. She had to see this through. She couldn't rest until she saw the end of all those who've wronged her.
"No" she let out a hushed answer. There was silence on Jaqen's part but she knew he was there, giving her permission to speak her mind. "I'm not prepared to bury Arya Stark but I AM prepared to cast her aside." Despite her inability to see, she couldn't find it in herself to raise her head.
"At least A Girl is being truthful about her predicament. This is a beginning, the beginning of her service to the Many-Faced God."
"I don't understand. Am I forgiven?" She asked, at a loss of words and of comprehension.
"You will be forgiven as and when you earn forgiveness, Arya Stark. But you must choose a role for yourself. A role that you will take on when you cast Arya Stark aside." This she understood and was ready with the answer but the moment she uttered it, it felt out of place.
"Someone"
He let out a sigh. "We both have seen that Arya Stark isn't very good at being Someone. Someone is the reason why Arya Stark can't see. You need a proper role. Name one for yourself or you'll have to take what the Many-Faced God assigns you."
That was strange. Arya had never known Gods to offer a choice and even one as vague as this felt unnatural. Was this man telling her that she could choose who she wanted to be. Even if she had the choice what could she be. She had been various things in her life; a lord's daughter, a beloved sister, a fighter, a survivor, a victim and now even a killer. But that's not what was being asked for.
She could try to do what was asked of her but she knew she would not be able to make this choice herself. It was as if she wanted someone to share the responsibility of what she was about to take up. "I'll take whatever the Many-Faced God gives me. I'll do whatever is needed of me."
"Well then." The voice then came from a distance. "Get comfortable in your new state. You are going to stay like that for a while" the voice was moving farther.
"Just a while?" She rushed the question out in desperation.
"This was your first sin and the Many-Faced God believes in second chances. Albeit he is mot too kind after the second failure. You must remember that."
All Arya could do in response to that relieving declaration was nod. It was then that it struck her that she was still Arya.
"Wait" she clutched at air and staggered. Hearing a turn, she continued, "but who am I" she asked with desperation clinging around each word.
Footsteps approached her and she felt something being placed over her palms. She felt it, touching it like an experienced blind person. It was a mask. She put it on and studied it through her fingers. Syrio had taught her some sightless antics and she wasn't one to let something even as futile as blindness get in her way to true devotion. She was going to do things rightly this time.
"You're the Third Eye" Jaqen told her. "You will deliver justice but only where and when it's due." She nodded in acknowledgement.
"What will I do?"
"You will go back to the docks, this time as the Blind Girl and resume the work that you left midway."
"But I can't see. How do you expect me to keep an eye on the thin man in this state!?"
"If A Girl wants favours from the Many-Faced God, she has to serve him. Without questions. A Man told A Girl that the Many-Faced God can help her and it's true. But first A Girl must prove herself worthy of the favours she asks" with that he walkwd away from her.
With that she prepared her to brace the string of roles laid down in front of her. Arya must become The Blind Girl who will then become the Third Eye before she could ever think of meeting Arya Stark again. She had to begin with the Thin Man for now. He sure did manage to evade the Many-Faced God till now but no more. The Blind Girl would see to that.