2. The Healing Begins

~Viola~

We were walking for a long time it seemed, the woman only stopped once in a while to adjust her hold on me and continued walking. I hated being blind, I hated not being able to see where we were, there were so many things I hated right now and one of them was that my leg itched but I didn't have legs which made it that much worse. I wanted to ask where we were at the moment but with my voice still damaged I couldn't utter a coherent word.

There were so many things I wanted to say, so many things I wanted to complain about but couldn't. The sounds of the forest were soothing and peaceful despite all the horror that went unnoticed. Though I couldn't help but listen to the birds singing, crickets chirping, animals running about after the rain had let up.

"Just rest Viola; I'll wake you when we get to my home." The woman's voice softly told me, it was strange how she seemed to know what I wanted to say but I did as I was told and tried to sleep.

~Silver Witch~

It is such a shame for a sweet young girl to be caught up in something so horrendous, all she had wanted to do was make her friend happy and this is how she's repaid. I looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms and hoped that she was asleep, it was hard to tell when she had no eyes but that would be remedied in time. In time Ellen will regret wronging Viola and she will take back what is rightfully hers, but that day is far from now and we have plenty of time.

I knew this path like the back of my hand, there was no getting lost in this forest for myself and my guest. Walking past several rose bushes I stopped as I was greeted by a black cat with a white tipped tail, my demon to be precise.

"My, my, you never bring in a soul to me." The demon spoke, eyeing Viola, eager to take her soul which I wasn't going to allow.

"She's not for you, you mangy cat." I walked passed him and proceeded towards my home up ahead.

"If you're not giving me her souls then what are you going to do with that mangled mess of a child?" His voice sounded perplexed and annoyed, it's been a couple of days since I offered a soul or two to him so it's no wonder he's testy, "It's also not like you to help another witch."

"She's not a witch; she's just a poor girl who befriended a witch." When I stepped in front of the door the door opened on its own allowing me to walk inside.

I heard the demon following me closely now until we stepped into the house, "Ahh, the body switching spell." the cat realized what I was saying about Viola's situation, "Such a tricky spell with difficult requirements. The easiest people to fool for that spell are bleeding hearts and gullible children."

Without turning I uttered a spell under my breath to throw a book I had left on the dining room table at the possessed cat. I smiled when I heard him shriek most likely after dodging the book, going onto more important matters I uttered another spell to place several towels on the couch in front of the fire place and I set Viola down on it. By how she was breathing I could tell Viola was sleeping but I didn't have the heart to wake her, so after covering her with one of my quilts I left to do some work.

Using my magic to create a shortcut to one of my personal rooms where I study magic and make potions, I began looking through the books I had for the ones that'll help the girl.

"Cat, do you remember where I had placed the books on restoration spells?" I hoped that my feline companion would know since I wasn't finding the book amongst the pile I had left on the table next to an empty ceramic bowl.

"You mean the one you threw at me? It's in the living room."

Ignoring the snide comment I went back to the living room to retrieve the book and flipped through it to see that it was indeed the book I needed. Opening it to where I needed it, I ventured back into my private room and began working on the potion.

" 'Bodily Restoration' " my cat read after hopping onto the table to read what I had the book open to, "You need a couple more ingredients for this type of potion, _my faithful witch_."

I could hear the spitefulness in his voice when he said 'my faithful witch', I didn't mind it though; it was something I ignored long ago. "It's nothing I can't find in my garden or out in the woods."

"You might want to help your guest first... She's bleeding all over your couch."

I mentally slapped myself for not wrapping up Viola's wounds first, it should've been the first thing I did once I got inside but I guess working on the healing potions overshadowed it. Grabbing several sheets I began tearing them so it would be easier to wrap up Viola's legs to stop the bleeding, when all the bandages were made I quickly went through my supply cabinets and grabbed several jars filled with various plants and liquids. Going over to Viola I gently removed the quilt I started to use a scrap sheet to dab away the blood that was coming out of the open leg wounds. Opening one of the jars filled with a cloudy substance in it, I took part of the cloth I had in hand, dipping it in the jar and began lightly smeared the substance over Viola's wounds.

Putting an appropriate amount of the balsam fir resin on the wounds I began wrapping up her legs to prevent any possible infections and so when it gets to the time where I can get to heal her legs there would be no complications. The eyes on the other hand were another story, I couldn't exactly treat them until Viola was awake and it would be rude to wake up a young girl from her slumber. Gently sitting her up I put bandages around her head, making sure that the eyes were covered and fasten it so the bandages wouldn't come off so easily.

Softly laying Viola back down on the pillow I went back into my study and began grabbing various ingredients. The first thing I intend on restoring was her eyes because even though the book states that growing the legs back would be a quick procedure, it's quite painful and would take a few months to be able to walk without feeling pain. That and I felt that seeing was far more important than walking because what was the point in being able to walk but not see where you were going. When I finished crushing some herbs into powder I added them into a bowl and then set it over the fire in the fireplace.

~Viola~

Smelling something cooking and burning wood I sat up, feeling what I was on I realized that I had been sleeping on a couch and had a blanket covering me. I guess the woman didn't want to wake me up when we arrived at her home, but now I was hungry. The invisible cook at Ellen's house didn't seem to be that great because all he seemed to make was some sort of stew which had cabbage and wieners in it, that and it was hard to ask for food when you couldn't speak.

"Aa...ah... Mmh..." I hoped that the woman was nearby to hear me, I didn't know if she had anyone else living with her or not.

"Hey! Your guest is up and looks like she wants something!" I heard a male voice speak, the voice sounded a lot like that black cat's but this voice had a different and more refined tone to it.

Hearing something close to glass quickly being put on a wooden table and rushed footsteps, I felt the woman touch my hand to tell me she was here. "What is it that you need Viola?"

I put my hand on my stomach and then I took the woman's hand and wrote 'I'm hungry' in her palm with my finger.

"Of course, I'll have dinner prepared in a moment." I heard her get up and then ask, "How does lamb, cooked vegetables and cheesecake for dessert sound?"

That dinner sounded wonderful, my mouth was already watering all I could do was nod rapidly because it'd been a while since I had something that good. Hearing her footsteps fading all I could do was wait and I wasn't sure how much time had passed but I had a feeling that it was quite a bit due to me now having bandages around my head and my legs. There wasn't much I could do so I just sat on the couch and listened to the sounds of flames crackling, food sizzling and plates being placed on a table.

While I waited for dinner to be prepared, I unconsciously started braiding my hair like I did every day when I woke up. It didn't take me long to finish making two braids even with Ellen's hair being as long as it was after I had taken the ribbon out, but since I only had that one ribbon I had to tie both braids together behind me rather than have them at my front like I used to do. Smelling the delicious scent of dinner waft through the air I could tell that dinner was almost done, using my hands to feel what part of the couch was what I took the blanket off of my and hung it on the back.

With the sound of footsteps coming back into the living room the woman's soft voice rang, "It's time for dinner, Viola."

With that being said she picked me up carefully and walked me into the dining room, I assumed of course. She sat me down on a chair and pushed it in to where I was close to the table and once I was close I began lightly feeling where my plate and utensils were at. I heard the woman giggle before placing a fork in my hand and felt a cat jump on my lap.

"Pay no mind to me, I'm just here for this assist." I heard that same man's voice ring.

My left hand was now being held by the woman while she uttered some words that I couldn't understand and when she was finished she let go. "Now place your left hand on the cat's head."

I did what she told me and a gasp left passed my lips when I could see! But... I had no control of where I my sight went.

"In other terms the spell that she used is for sight-stealing, the only drawback is that only I can control what you see." The cat spoke to me as he continued to look at the plate full of food.

"I'm sorry, but it's the least I can do for now." She apologized as she sat down at the other side of the table.

Right now all the cat was looking at was my food; I couldn't exactly see who my caretaker was all I caught a glimpse of was her silvery hair. I tried to get the cat to raise his head up a bit but he wouldn't budge, so I gave up and began eating.

The cooked vegetables were delicious; the carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, and some type of squash were well seasoned. When I tried to tear a piece of lamb off of the leg but with just using the fork it was rather difficult and just as I was about to take my left hand off the cat's head to take the knife and cut it an invisible person picked up my knife, took my fork and began cutting the meat off the bone and into small pieces. When the invisible person handed the fork back to me, I got a piece on the fork and ate it to find that it was cooked very well and the taste of rosemary added flavor to the meat.

"Tch." The cat's head lightly jerked as he sneezed downward and tried to move back some but was forced to stop when his back end hit my stomach. "You used rosemary didn't you?"

The woman giggled at the cat's accusation, "Rosemary makes the meat taste better and I figured that Viola would like it."

"You know fully well that I can't stand rosemary, it's a demon repellant." I felt the cat cringing his nose under my palm as he kept his sight on my plate.

"Well you're stuck there until Viola is finished eating because I'm not gonna let you leave this table before that."

I continued eating the lamb and veggies while having to ignore the cat's low growling and it's failing attempts to move away from my plate. By the time I had finished off the lamb the witch's demon was itching to run out of the dining room, but under protest he obeyed her orders and stayed though he seemed relieved that the scent of rosemary was fading. Soon after I was finished with my dinner the woman got up to take my plate along with hers to the kitchen and when she came back she had set down a plate of blueberry cheesecake in front of me.

It had been years since I had cheesecake, I've hadn't had any of the dessert since mom had passed from an illness and father wasn't the greatest baker in the world. Out of habit I used my fork to push the blueberries into the cheesecake until they weren't seen and then started eating, I heard the woman chuckle at what I had just done.

"That's quite the unusual way of eating a cheesecake."

I 'looked' down in embarrassment but then continued eating because I couldn't exactly explain. As I continued to eat the cheesecake I had some difficulty keeping the sauce from dripping anywhere other than the plate so I had to use my other hand thus blinding myself but it was better than getting my clothes dirty... Well any more than they already were.

"Viola, I also must apologize for not having a spare dress or any other clothes for you. I would lend you some of my clothes but they would be much too big on you, so hopefully by tomorrow I'll have something for you to wear other than that dress."

I nodded in understanding as I finished off the rest of the cheesecake; since the woman and I were finished she got up from the table with her plate in hand, walked to my side of the table and took my plate. After hearing the glass being placed on a metal surface, most likely the sink she came back shooed the cat off my lap and carried me. Since I didn't have the cat to see I had no idea where we were going but when we happened to be in another room the nice fragrance in the air I would guess that we were in a bathroom.

"I figured that you would like a bath before going to bed..." she paused for a second then sat me down on a small stool. "Is that alright with you?"

I don't think I could've nodded my head fast enough, a bath was another thing I really wanted, I couldn't stand the blood, sweat and greasy feeling any longer. It didn't take the woman long to draw the bath and helped me in after getting the filthy clothes and bandages off. To be honest it felt rather nice to be helped, though it was only because I was both blind and had no legs, but in time that would be different... I hope.

By the time the woman was finished helping me get clean, she picked me up out of the tub and wrapped me up in a towel while she wrung out my hair. She stopped for a moment telling me that she'll be right back, that she had to get something for me to wear for the night, so I waited with the big towel wrapped around me like a blanket. When I heard her get back she slipped something over my head and helped me out of the towel and get my arms through the sleeves as well as giving me other garments to wear.

Once I was in the oversized nightgown the woman carried me to yet another room and laid me down on a soft bed. With no words being exchanged the woman tucked me in and left the room.

~Silver Witch~

I didn't see any problem with letting young Viola take my bed for a while, my home was meant to house one person but it'll change. I needed to finish that potion I was working on since the book instructed that it'd sit for a little over an hour to allow the brew to cool down and for the ingredients to set in. Putting all the contents in a decent sized bottle I set it aside as I opened another book of potions and flipped through the pages to a potion that heals the throat.

"Hey!" I let out a sigh when the cat tried to get my attention, "You need to keep up your responsibilities and bring me souls so you can have your magic."

I looked at the cat out of the corner of my eye, "Tomorrow. You'll get your souls tomorrow, now let me work in peace."

"I'm holding you to that, my faithful witch."

I paid no mind to where the mangy cat went and while I allowed the fire to begin boiling the water I looked up at the clock that hung above the door to find that it was nearing midnight. Thinking that Voila would be fast asleep by now, I grabbed the bottle and a small eye dropper and headed to my room to find the young girl lying on her back holding one of the throw pillows I forgotten to take off the bed.

Quietly unscrewing the lid to the jar I used the eye dropper to get a bit of the potion, I set the jar down and as careful as possible I lightly pushed up each of Viola's eyelids and placed a few drops of the potion in each eye socket. After placing the appropriate amount of drops in each eye, I squeezed the rest of the potion back in the jar and tip-toed out of the room. Going into the living room closet I took out a spare blanket I had and muttering a spell I conjured a bed next to the still bloody couch and I went to sleep.

_'Hope you enjoy your new sight in the morning, dear Viola.'_

_(Sorry this took so long to get finished and posted up. I got distracted by playing 'Mad Father' which was recommended to me, finishing Silent Hill 3, starting Silent Hill Origins and coming up with story ideas. Hope you like this chapter and I really appreciate all the reviews, story favorites and follows, I didn't expect this story to be liked that much but I appreciate it all the same.)_

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