"What do you mean you can't go in the city?"

"Exactly what I said." Hero responded, a note of exasperation in his voice. "I'm an outcast, remember? I'd be attacked and thrown out, at the very least."

"Then why did we walk all the way here?" Olivia threw her hands up in the air. "I obviously can't go in and do research by myself! I have no way to get my bearings! And I seriously doubt everyone in Ikaisal is as much as a sap as they were in Preosan!"

"I assumed I'd figure it out on the way over."

"Either that, or this was just a ploy to get me to stop trying to rescue my family."

"Why would I- okay, that's true, I would do that." Hero allowed. "But I do genuinely want to do something about Orion. I'll find a way into the city, I just know I can't walk in within plain sight." Sighing, Olivia shifted, setting her chin in her palm. She could hear the faint sounds of the city from where she stood - Hero had told her it was at the bottom of the hill. It wasn't like she was really an expert on disguising one's appearance, but…

"Put this on." She ordered, reaching behind her head to untie her blindfold.

"What?" Hero sounded incredulous. "How will that help? I may as well just keep my eyes closed."

"Just try it." Pulling the cloth free, she offered it to him. "When I was younger, I played a game with a friend once, and we blindfolded her to be fair." She began, trying to explain. "I expected to win, easily, because I was used to being blind and she wasn't. However, she kept winning regardless. I eventually figured out that she could see through the cloth." Hesitantly, Hero plucked the blindfold from her grasp. Olivia waited as he tied it over his own eyes.

"I can see." He reported. "A bit. Enough."

"Good! Okay, let's go." Olivia stepped forwards, starting to make her way down the hill, but Hero's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Shouldn't you stay here? Your eyes are the same as mine."

"They are?" She stopped short. Was that the reason Mom wanted her to wear the blindfold so badly? "Um, that's interesting, but no, I'll just keep my eyes shut."

"Are you sure?" He pressed. "It could be dangerous if you lost concentration and forgot."

"I'll figure it out. Let's just go." Without waiting for an answer, Olivia pulled away and started down the hill once more. A beat passed, then Hero sighed, giving up the argument as he followed her down.

"Mythical creatures." Hero mumbled under his breath, accompanied by the sound of a page turning. Olivia didn't move, senses trained on the quiet library around them. She had been assigned a 'lookout' position, charged with making sure no one crept up on them. It was pretty easy since the library was almost silent, a fact she was eternally grateful for. When she was overwhelmed by the sounds of the city back in Preosan, the library had been her go-to place to hide for several years.

"Tsar Orion Davormond." Hero read aloud, his voice hushed to avoid being eavesdropped upon. "A warlord in the Aria region for several hundred years, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances during a small battle in an area rumored to be cursed. Those that remained of his armies dispersed without their leader, and his territories were split up between the others in the area."

"Several hundred years?" Olivia echoed. "So he isn't human?"

"Evidently not, as you may have gathered from his appearen-" Hero cut off, and there was a brief, awkward pause. "He does… not look like a standard human."

"Thank you very much for the intel."

"According to the book, rumors have circulated for centuries that he is still alive, but it has never been confirmed." More pages flipping. "This book was written about 30 years ago."

"He's obviously back now." Olivia leaned back in her seat, resting her head on the table Hero's book sat upon. "And back to doing warlord stuff. So what do we do with him?"

"Maybe if we could break his connection with the undead?" Hero mused. "Although, that may be impossible… it could be innate."

"Is he unkillable? Does the book say anything about his killability?"

"First of all, that isn't a word." He began tiredly. "Second, no. It doesn't mention anything of the sort."

"What about you? You said you knew his reputation - do you know his weaknesses?"

"If I did, would I have to go all the way here in search of them?" He snapped, and Olivia flinched back at his sudden aggressiveness.

"No need to yell."

"Right. You're right. I apologize." Another page flipped. "I do not."

"I guessed that." Scowling, Olivia turned, resting her chin on the back of her chair. "Do you know who else might possibly know?"

"Maybe a librarian? Or historian?"

"Oh, that's convenient! We're in a library! I'm sure we can find a librarian somewhere around here." Immediately, she began scanning for other sets of footsteps.

"Wait." Hero protested, his voice lowered to a whisper once more. "We can't just ask someone, what would they think about us? A pair of blind people looking for the weaknesses and secrets of a cryptic warlord?"

"Why not tell them the truth?" Olivia lifted her head to make a face at him. "He destroyed my city and I want payback."

"That doesn't make any sense! You're blind! You can't do a thing against an army of undead!"

"Alright, know what?" Sitting up straight, Olivia slammed her palm down on the table Hero sat at, causing him to hush her angrily. "I'm getting pretty tired of you acting like just 'cause I can't see that I'm somehow helpless."

"I'm not saying you're helpless." He hissed back. "I'm just stating facts. You cannot defeat an army of undead plus an ageless warlord by yourself, especially without an entire one of your senses."

"It doesn't even matter to me anymore that I'm blind!" She snarled. "I've been blind since birth. I've never known what it's like to see. I grew up without it. I've adapted. It's not-"

"Wait." Hero interrupted, voice raised slightly to be heard over her. "You were born blind?" She scowled at him.

"Yes?"

"Is that- are you sure?" The frustration in his voice was gone, replaced by confusion. "So the scars on your face are unrelated?"

"Yeah, I was born with them. Can we get back to the topic at hand?"

"That isn't how scars work!" Hero protested, lowering his voice a bit. "Scars like those - I'm impressed you survived that, those wounds must've been horrible."

"No, I was just born with them." Olivia repeated, growing frustrated. "Can we go-"

"Olivia." He interrupted.

"Hero." She shot back.

"May I see your eyes?" She heard the legs of his chair grind on the wooden floor, and frowned.

"You can see them."

"May I take a closer look?"

"Sure?" She felt him get closer, and one of his hands cupped her cheek. She grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut as he touched one of her scars, following it across her eyelids as he leaned in closer. She could smell the scent of grass and flowers on him, probably because they had spent the night in the meadow.

...and smoke. She could still smell smoke.

"These are about 20 years old." He spoke at last, letting go of her face. "You are 23, correct?"

"24. How the heck would you know that?"

"It's obvious." Was his simple response. "Don't tell me you were born with these."

"But I was." She protested, hating the uncertainty that crept into her voice. Mom wouldn't lie to her. "You have to be mistaken."

"That doesn't even make any sense. And-" He cut her off as she tried to speak. "You asked me what color my hair was." She frowned. "One who was blind from birth - and, as such, had never seen color - would not even factor it in as an option."

"But why would they lie?!" She snapped, holding up her hands to make herself a bubble of personal space. "Why would my mom lie to me about that?"

"Maybe she was the one who did it to you." Olivia's mouth dropped open, her brow furrowing with rage, but Hero clapped a hand over her mouth before she could begin to shout.

"I'm not saying she tried to hurt you," He continued hastily, "but it's possible that you got hurt on her watch, or she dropped you, or something of the sort that caused you to be injured." Slowly, he removed his hand, and she was silent. "She could've been so wracked with guilt that she lied to you to cover up the truth." Shoving her anger at the accusation aside, Olivia considered this. It was… possible, she supposed, that his theory was true.

"I guess." She spoke at last, and he hushed her. "It doesn't really matter, though." She continued in a quieter voice. "My point still stands. I don't need to be able to see."

"Maybe you don't." He acknowledged. "Maybe you're just as capable as I am - when not exhausted and starving, anyway." She gave him a single nod. He wasn't wrong about that. "But others won't see it that way. Nether, I don't. If we just ask someone what Orion's weaknesses are, they're going to be confused at best, suspicious at worst."

"Then we can explain it to them."

"Look, you know I don't like people." Hero's voice was tired. "People don't like me. Please, can we drop this for now? I'll keep reading, see if I can find anything else about our enemy. We'll decide what to do next later, alright?" Olivia didn't answer for a moment, mulling over his words. It was true that most people treated her like a porcelain teapot, to be handled incredibly carefully lest she break. It wouldn't shock her if not a single person in this city was as willing to hear her out as Hero was.

"Alright." She answered at last.

They studied for the next couple of hours in silence.