Cat Nari: Confession... I actually have had a couple chapters written for a while. I just forgot to cross-post them here, I'm also on wattpad, and I post under the name p0tat0-g0ddess! In case anyone's interested to see the chapters as SOON as they come out lol. The reason I don't post them here immediately is because the fic is initially written as an X Reader type fic, but that's against fanfiction's rules, so I have to make sure it's all "Olivia" and not "Y/N". :)

Ara Celene: That is high praise indeed! I try my best to write believable romances (...although I'm... not entirely sure olivia and hero are going to get together, at this point)

Olivia wasn't sure what Hero had done while out, but it can't have been anything good.

By Notch's report (she had slept through it), Hero had barged into the temple, covered in blood and soot, and snapped at Notch when he expressed concern before heading to the back of the temple to sulk. As far as she knew, he was still back there, figuratively licking his wounds.

In her case, she was still miserable, back aching where the whip had struck her and feeling both too hot and too cold at the same time. Notch had proclaimed that she had a slight fever, but it wasn't anything to be concerned about. She was concerned about it - it was annoying. The blanket helped, though, the comforting weight along with her mother's hand on her shoulder helped to keep her from screaming. She'd nibbled on some bread Notch had offered her, but her stomach rolled and clenched at the thought of food, so she settled for water instead.

Mostly, this was just boring. She'd been lying on the floor, flickering in and out of consciousness, for the better part of two or three hours now. She'd finally gotten her foot into the door and was fully awake, but that wasn't much better. Possibly worse, actually, as sleeping was at least something to do. Notch had left, and neither Hero nor her mom spoke, so it was silent. She almost wanted to make a loud sound, just to see what their reactions would be.

Just as she had almost convinced herself to do her best llama impression, her mom spoke.

"Olivia, sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"Mmn? Uh…" It took Olivia a moment to collect her thoughts. "…awful."

"I'm sorry." The hand on her back patted sympathetically. "I can ask Notch to bring me some of that ointment when he returns…?"

"It's more th' fever…" Olivia muttered, resting her head on her arm. "Gotta wait it out, I guess."

"I suppose so." The pair lapsed into silence, and Olivia's fingers found her hair. Good Notch, it was greasy… she desperately needed a bath.

Her fingers traveled down a bit farther, to her useless eyes. Her thumb traced around one, feeling the scars that Hero had claimed were unnatural. Having her blindfold off at all felt unnatural…

As she ran her thumb around her eye again, the thought of Hero's words gave her pause. He had suspected that her mother had something to do with her blindness… which… couldn't be possible. Could it? Her mom was right here - she could put those fears to rest here and now.

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?" Mom responded, still rubbing her back a little bit.

"I was blind from birth, right?" The hand stilled.

"Yes… I… yes." Her tone made Olivia's heart sink.

She was lying.

"You're… are you sure?" Her mother was silent for a moment, before clearing her throat.

"Why do you ask?"

"Hero told me that the scars around my eyes are from when I was three." Olivia lowered her hand, tilting her face back up towards her mom's. "And that… if I was blind from birth, I wouldn't know what color was." Olivia's heart sank into her stomach as she realized that Hero was right. And what reason would her mom have to lie? Had she really had something to do with it? If it was an accident, why would she keep such a thing from her all her life?

When her mother spoke again, her voice was choked.

"You were four." Olivia's racing thoughts went quiet.

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry Olivia, I love you, I never meant for it to hap-" Her mother's voice caught, and Olivia braced her arm under herself, trying to push herself up. "N-no no, stay still, don't hurt yourself…"

"Tell me what happened."

"A-alright, lie down." Olivia relented. The hand was briefly removed from her back, and she heard her mom sniffle, before she began to speak again.

"Y-you were born with white eyes. Everyone heard the m-moment you were born, and the rumors spread like wildfire, that you were cursed, p-possessed." Olivia grimaced. Not unlike Hero's childhood, she imagined. "Th-they wanted to kill you, toss you into the canal to d-drown- I took you and fled. We moved to the edge of the city, your father and I… we hid you for your infancy, and into your toddler years, but…

"…they found us when you were four… active and energetic, all smiles… you didn't know they meant to kill you. They came to us, t-told us that you would have to be put to death… they simply couldn't risk you being Brine. I couldn't let that happen."

"You convinced them to blind me." Olivia whispered. A sniffle is her only response.

"I t-told them that if you were blinded… h-he wouldn't be able to manifest, Brine wouldn't. I was just telling stories, but they believed me. They took you away, and th' next morning returned, your face wrapped in b-bandages." Olivia grimaced at the heartbreak in her mother's voice. "I'm s-so so sorry sweetheart, I didn't know what else I could do…"

"It's okay." Olivia whispered softly. Her head ached gently, and she pressed a hand to her forehead to alleviate it. Her mother's story- it was new, and yet, she felt like she'd already known. She had no memory of that time, maybe she had blocked it out, but still… "It's okay, you did everything you could."

"I'm so sorry…" Her mom's voice was slightly muffled, and Olivia forced herself up again, draping her arms around her mother's shoulders. It ended up being her mostly leaning on her, but Olivia hoped she provided some measure of comfort as her mom hugged her and wept quietly into her shoulder.

"I didn't care." Mom whispered tearfully. "If you were Brine, I didn't care. You were still my little girl…"

"N I wasn't." Olivia whispered back. A little bit of bitterness, a bit of resentment settled in the pit of her stomach. At the people who blinded her, at Brine himself - at Orion for hunting him, causing the strife that the people of her hometown so feared. And she felt, for the first time since she was young, an intense longing for her sight to be restored.

Olivia sat with her mom until she stopped crying, then eased herself back down onto her makeshift bed. Worn out, her mother soon fell asleep nearby, and the sound of the crickets outside caused Olivia to believe it was bedtime. Her stomach now rumbled softly, claiming that water wasn't enough, but she didn't want to call out and wake her mom. So, she waited.

Eventually, she heard footsteps, heralding Notch's return. He came to check on her as soon as he arrived, and provided her food upon request. Once she had eaten, she curled up on the floor and fell asleep beside her mother, dreaming of men in cloaks who dragged knives over her eyes.