She remembered fire and blood. And eyes colder than ice that suddenly became blank. Then nothing. When she woke, she had no memories of what had happened but those single images; the only images that she would ever remember seeing. Something that she did not understand had happened, and she had woken up blind... yet seeing far more than she should be. Nodoka had become a Seer overnight. She didn't understand what went on after she awoke, only that there were people in the room speaking of her without speaking to her, as though she were an animal. They put off a cold green aura to her Sight and it scared her. She was given food and water and told to eat and drink. She did, but it was tasteless in her mouth.
The next day came and another person entered the room. His aura was different, bright red bruised with black, and she felt like it shone intense heat onto her face. He told her to follow, that she would live with him from then until both his and her punishment was over. He scared her more than the cold greens, but she knew nothing, so followed. He took her to a house just a few minutes walk out of town that seemed to radiate mental strength, a castle really, abandoned sometime in a previous age. Indeed, three ages ago exactly; she could see the final battle between the slightly more civilized occupants and the barbarian hordes that had long since taken up permanent residence in the north, could see the blood and the death as every man in the castle was killed and every woman and child taken into the tribe. It was a terrible sight, but once the battle was over, she saw the peace as it returned to nature, the halls and walls becoming overgrown as the forest moved in, birds nesting here and there and a wolf and her cubs using one of the rooms that was still intact like a cave.
"Yes, yes, this place has a long history that I'm sure you can see but I'm also sure you can take the time to look later, serving girl." The old seer said as he jerked her out of her vision and inside the hall, cleaned of vegetation and set with torches that lit as they walked past and went out behind. Their first stop was the kitchen.
"Here, beginning tomorrow, I will teach you how to cook what I like to eat, until you know enough that you can cook my meals. When we need more food, you will be sent to the market with enough gold to buy my regular stock, which you will have a list of, and enough gold extra to buy enough food for you to eat healthily on, if you have the brains to spend it wisely. While learning, you will eat the same thing I do, but after, you may cook whatever you want to eat, provided it does not make my own meal late. And don't whine if you run out of your own food before market day comes again; you will go hungry if that happens. I won't let you starve, but the only food I can conjure is dry oat biscuits, which taste so nasty you may want to go hunt rats first. Also, within one hour of my meal, I want every dish in this kitchen spotless. If any of them break without very good cause, such as a demon popping out of thin air and attacking you while washing or carrying, it comes out of your food money gradually. Understood?" She nodded, her bangs already half-covering her shy eyes that now stared blankly towards his voice. "On second thought, you won't handle breakable dishes until you've learned to See enough that you don't trip on your own two feet." So stated, he led her out of the kitchen. They traveled down another hallway, past several branches, to another room, filled with books.
"This is the study. You will be given a duster and expected to keep it free of dust. If I check any spot for dust one day and find it still dusty on the next, you will be punished. You will be allowed to read, since your learning must keep near the level of the average seer trainee, but do not believe everything the books in this room say. They are all state approved, which means several of them are pure drivel. You will be shown my real library later, and in those books you can trust everything to be either accurate or obvious fiction. Never speak of my real library, and never speak what you have heard me say about the books in this room. I know no one is listening now, but after the mess your parents got me into, they'll be checking on me often, and if they hear any hint as to who I really am from you, I promise you that you'll wish they'd thrown you into a pit of needles and left you to die slowly. Understood?" She nodded again, cringing a bit from his gaze that she could not see. They moved on again, only one hallway this time, and short to a closed door.
"This is my bedroom door, you are never to enter here, and do not need to; it is kept clean by magic. If I am there and there is a dire emergency... and it had better be very dire, such as the demon example from earlier... knock and wait for me to come to the door. It will always be locked, and only I can open it, but any ideas you might have about slipping in, get rid of them now. The threat I gave you a moment ago stands for this as well. Understood?" She nodded once again, gulping and keeping her eyes lowered from his natural glare. He jerked her along again, towards the front of the house, and took her out on the front step.
"You will clean this front entrance once a day. I do not expect it to be as clean as my study, this is outside after all, but I expect it to at least look presentable at all times, storms notwithstanding. Understood?" She nodded once again, head still hung low, "Then it's time for dinner. I will show you how to cook the first meal, and in proper proportions, as well as a half-portion for yourself. Because you have arrived unexpectedly, tomorrow is market day. I will take you and show you where to get my regular supply, as well as how to get the best there is to offer."
Nodoka lied in her bed, a lumpy mattress in a small, dark, stale room a few down from the Master's, thinking about what she had to do. The room was completely dark, though she was barely aware of it. On her chest lay a book, 'Enlightener's Essentials' it was called; a basic overview of every known technique available within the scope of a seer's abilities. Her Master had handed her the book as he showed her to her bedroom, her clothes from wherever she had been before already stacked on a chair, and had told her that she had to learn at least half of chapter one within the month, that he would answer her questions during his mealtimes and just after, when he smoked his pipe, if she had trouble learning the information and techniques herself. But before she could read the book, she had to learn to See it, to extend her sight beyond her body into the present so she could see her surroundings and read the words printed on the page, invisible to her blind eyes. He had informed her of this, and also that it was the first and simplest technique in the book, so that she would be killing one and a quarter birds with one stone, leaving three more simple techniques to learn before the month's end.
She sat up and held the book in her hands, opening it to the first page and pondering how to go about Seeing the Present. After a few moments, a simple idea comes into her mind, and she executes it quickly. With her imagination, she paints a picture of a floating eye inside of her mind, and then slowly draws it out. She felt a small pull and then it was out. She imagined it opening, and Saw... something; Black with the slightest hint of grey. She realized that she was in a dark room, and tweaked something within the eye. In an instant, her Vision flared into existence, the room appearing in outline within her mind, as well as herself, as the eye was looking back at her. She was shocked at first, but quickly pointed the eye down to the book she held, and was happy to be able to read the words... mostly. She flipped back and forth happily all night long once she discovered a glossary of terms in the back, reading long into the night...
"Up, girl, it's morning and my breakfast should have been ready three minutes ago. I'll excuse it today as you probably haven't learned the alarm technique yet, but by tomorrow I want my breakfast ready promptly at seven AM. Understood?" Nodoka blinked uselessly as she woke up, the book in her lap sliding off, its back cover facing upward.
"Y-yes sir." She stammered, clambering out of bed wearing the same clothes as she had for the past three days and stumbling a moment before she walked towards the kitchen, her Master in tow.
"You have mastered the technique of Seeing the Present already, I see." He noted as she carefully stepped over a rat carcass.
"Yes, sir," she answered timidly, not slowing.
"Good, you can wash the dishes when we're done then." He replied, "Hurry now, and make sure you get this hall clean as soon as we get back from the market. Don't want the place getting infected with insects."
"Yes sir." She repeated, the litany already familiar.
"And that's how to check an apple for bruises. Lightly bruised apples are fine, but choose carefully otherwise. Understood?" He didn't even wait for her answer this time, "You need to collect five of them each time you come to the market. This time we'll grab two extras for you." She quickly picked out the seven best apples on the stack and put them into the large bag he had given her.
"Now, meat, the butcher's shop is right this way. Come along." He didn't bother to drag her along any more, so they quickly made their way into the butcher's. "You don't need to worry about quality or quantity here; the butcher is well aware of my needs each week."
"Good morning, Mr. Whatsisname!" The portly butcher walked out from the back, a cleaver and a haunch in hand, "I heard about your little predicament and your new permanent house guest; an extra pound for the lady?"
"Yes, Mr. Finn. After today, she'll be picking up my food supplies, as well as her own. Just give her what you'd usually give me, and whatever she requests otherwise. And don't think you can stiff me on the good parts because I'm not watching you. I'll know."
"Only a fool would stiff a seer who isn't a stiff sir." The butcher replied, measuring his first cut and smiling. The old man glared at him. Nodoka tried not to smile.
"You are never to speak of what you see, hear, and read here. As you've probably figured out, I'll know if you betray me, no matter how safe you think you are from my wrath." He told her harshly, his lips pulled back in a threatening snarl.
"Yes sir, I understand." Nodoka said, her voice betraying her anticipation.
"Very well. Do not watch as I open it." He turned around towards the solid iron door that could very well lead to a pantry (and did, she knew, if you used the regular doorknob.) and muttered a bit before she heard the sound of metal sliding across metal and something else she could not identify. There was also a very strange smell that she could not place, but she knew she had smelled it before. Then the door slid open smoothly, unlike the rusty clanking it made when usually opened, and she sent her Seeing Eye forward quickly, unable to wait any longer to see the treasure trove ahead, only to be brought up short as her mind was shocked hard, the bolt of mental energy easily traveling back to her through her Eye.
"There's your first lesson about this place; never try to See within it from the outside. The reason should be obvious right now, and the reason why shouldn't be too hard to figure out either." Nodoka stood up, not realizing she had fallen in the first place until after the fact. "Now come along, I haven't got all day." He stepped through the door, and it began to quickly close behind him so that Nodoka barely made it through.
"This is my library, behold in wonder!" He said, gesturing widely at the shelves and shelves of books stretching up past where even her eye could see, and with the happiest voice she'd ever heard from him (not that that was saying much...). She did indeed gaze in awe, her Eye jumping from shelf to shelf, scanning each title quickly and marveling at the sheer number.
"All right, enough of that. I prefer to study in a more comfortable setting. I'd suggest you reel in your eye before I collapse the room." He waited for perhaps a second and a half before he snapped his fingers and the walls came together swiftly and seamlessly, forming a room that looked much like his study upstairs, only twice the size and considerably more... plush, she thought, what with the silk couches and cushions strewn about on a very fine fluffy carpet. The perfect place to relax with a good book, one might think. She did notice the lack of so many books, however; now, the walls were formed of bookshelves and stopped at the ceiling, but there were so few on the walls now and all curiously had titles that started with the letter A.
"For ease of reference, I've organized it a bit. While we're in here, you may use the wall left of the door. I believe you should study these books so that you perhaps might be able to keep up with your studies." He stepped over to the left wall and placed a hand near the shelf, "Seers and Seeing, commence search." The wall began shifting as soon as he was done speaking, sliding down and across until it stopped, the center of the shelf with a marker: 'Seers and Seeing, section one of five.' "Find whatever book you need this way. The system is well made enough that you can call up just about anything, alphabetically, by author, by title, by subject, etcetera. If you can't seem to find something, ask me. I do occasionally find bugs in the system, so it will not offend me if you discover them instead. Now, I have work to do, read whatever you wish." He stepped off to the other wall and murmured something so that the shelves shifted until his hand rested over a particular book, which he withdrew and then dropped onto a couch and began reading.
Nodoka looked at the titles curiously, wondering what she should read first. She withdrew a title at random and opened up the book: 'Dream Walking and Soul Searching: a compilation of traditional symbology.' A reference book to what various events and pictures one might see in a Dream Walk or when looking directly into someone's soul could mean... though it warned that the symbols were all in the target's mind, and so could mean anything. But it gave the classical representations that were usually ingrained into a person's mind and was therefore likely accurate for most stable minds that had grown up within current human society. While interesting, it was like reading a dictionary; you would more likely flip through searching for specific symbols after you had seen them, rather than recalling them during the Seeing. She replaced the book, and, on a hunch, placed her hand inches from the wall.
"Dream Walking and Soul Searching: the basics." She murmured; the wall shifted a few rows down and to the right so that her hand was resting over a book with the title she had called, the shelf around it lined with other books that seemed to be beginner level books on subjects dealing with Seeing Within. She withdrew the book in front of her hand, thinking that it was as good a place to begin as any, seeing how she had already finished reading the basics book, and what it mentioned of this particular subject made it sound very interesting.
Nine years later, Nodoka stood at the sink, washing dishes, her expression blank, eyes lowered so that they could hardly be seen beneath her bangs. Her movements were robotic, familiar from nine years of repetitions. One might think her life terrible, slaving away day after day for an old man that would just a well spit on her as look at her, but to her, those few hours in the library each day were worth it. Access to thousands and thousands of books, each just waiting for her to read them... she'd once asked if he had all the books in the world there, or copies of them, and he'd only said that he was working on it.
The monthly tests came and went easily; she was told by the old man to get at least half the questions right, and each time she got exactly half the questions right. She had heard the words 'a bit below average' many times, and because she had nothing to base her learning speed off of but her master, who gave no hint to reveal his skill on any level, she assumed that they were right. That was just fine with her; all she wanted from life was a little seer shop of her own, and maybe to inherit her master's library when he passed away, as well as the knowledge of how to manage it. She never smiled because every time she did, her master would notice and ask what she was so happy about, then say he didn't care and tell her to go sweep the front step.
Her train of thought was interrupted as she sensed something in the air behind her and spun around, ready to flee as soon as she could tell what it was she had sensed. The premonition gave her exactly five seconds before it actually happened: the center of the kitchen seemed to erupt in a spray of blood, and when it settled, the only part of the kitchen not speckled was her master, standing clean in the center of the eruption, breathing heavily with a bloody stiletto dagger in one hand and a few books under the other arm. He mumbled something and the books seemed to disappear for a moment, and then reappear under his arm again.
"Girl, come here." By now, Nodoka was shaking like a leaf, her mind refusing to believe the truth, but her automatic reaction took over and she walked hurriedly to her master. "I've been found out. You don't know anything of it, and if they ask, I appeared here and then ran out the door immediately. I'm going to lay a defense on your mind so they cannot read you, and it should be passed off as total mind-shock. Hold out your hand, quickly now!" She did so, though her entire arm shook. "Someone will come and they will take you away from the government dogs, and they will bring you to my library here, so that they can move it to my new location." He grabbed her wrist and held her hand steady, "You will have to be the one to open it for them, and for that, you'll need this." He twisted his free hand around in midair and an object appeared there. It looked like a brand, but instead of the symbol being made with wide lines, they were thin, and looked sharp. It was the Seer's Eye emblem with a single tear falling from the center.
Before she could think any further, he sunk the blade brand into her held right palm, forcing it all the way to the bone in one stroke. 'Ouch' just doesn't quite cut it. Her breath caught in her throat and she screamed silently, eyes wide as she felt the warm blood run down her arm, hardly visible on top of the cooled blood, and her panic doubled as she felt the brand burn itself into her mind, forcing past her defenses and searing her thoughts. In her pain, her mind uncontrolled, her abilities moved on their own, showing her the past of the object which had pierced her skin and her mind: the pact, the price, the pain. She knew it all, and she was afraid. The brand was removed, and she was tossed back into the corner, quivering, her expression blank, subconsciously knowing that the wound would heal in an instant with no mark, but also knowing that the wound in her mind would not go away, ever.
She didn't know when her master left, but within seconds after the branding had been done, he was gone, and she was alone.
End Chapter 2
And so the Pain Begins...
AN: First off, props to Mookie, the author/artist of the popular webcomic 'Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire' who taught me that Seers are cool. Second, very sorry to anyone who was expecting the suprise to be pleasant... I lied It was very hard to not give anything away in this chapter... on the Kono/Setsu side of this story, there aren't really any secrets to start out with, but the Nodoka?(heheh, there's one secret) side already has a whole plethora. And just so you know, this side of the story won't get anywhere NEAR as lighthearted as the other until after Ending #1. Not that the other will be all that lighthearted, but 'Sorrow' is just so much cleaner than 'Pain', if you catch my meaning.
This may have been apparent, and it'll be somewhat outlined in Chapter 3 or 4, but for the non-observant who might be confused, the government here is run by 'The Enlightened Ones'... Seers that think that because they can see more than the average person, they should be the ones to run everything. It probably started out very prosperously, but over time it turned into a totalitarian government, with an emphasis on extreme information restriction. Ah yes, and here I introduce the concept of the 'blood mage' into this story. Some of you might already know what that is, but for others, it will be explained in good time, as well as why it's so prominent in this little world. Oh, and before ANYBODY asks, complains or otherwise, I'm making up this world as I go, so it's kind of a meshing of whatever I can think of. There'll be more on this in the next chapter, especially since I need to stop rambling in this one.
Also, before I forget, special thanks to Oka-san for prereading chapters 2 and 3. I wasn't too sure I'd done good with them, and he reassured me.