When Darkness and Silence Meet

Rezo sat, looking at the blackness of his world. How he longed to see. To see the blue sky above him, and the green grass below him. "Such is life…" The words of his previous apprentice had said danced in his mind. He had so many, but none could help him see. He was startled by a knock at his door. He got up and answered it. A young, beautiful girl stood smiling at him. Though he could not see her beauty, he could sense it.
"May I help you, miss?" He asked in his calm, trusting voice.
"I have come to ask to be your apprentice, and help you to see. My name is Arcadia. You know, we have quite a lot in common." Her voice was soft and sweet, the kind that was the sound of flowers rustling in an empty meadow, though there was a bit of a stutter in her voice.
"In common?"
"Yes. I have traveled the lands, curing others. My ultimate goal in life was always to cure you. Your world is black and desolate, yet you sense your sight. While mine is silent, though I can sense sounds. I have been completely deaf since a stupid act when I was 7."
"Come in, my dear. I will gladly take you as my apprentice, and in return for your help, I will find a way to cure you."
"I promise, I will not quit until you can see the world around you."
"So tell me about yourself, Arcadia."
"Well ever since my accident, I've taken up white magic and a new form of healing. Since I could not heal myself, I wanted to use my newly acquired gift to bring happiness to others."
"What exactly was this 'accident'?"
"One day, I was teaching myself levitation. I was levitating a giant stone spike, when my mother called me, causing me to loose my concentration. The stone spike fell and stabbed through my eats, breaking all surrounding nerves and muscles."
"How dreadful. May I study it?"
"Go ahead."
Rezo walked over and examined Arcadia's ears.
"If you don't mind, sir." She said when he was finished, "I'd like to examine your eyes as well, if that's okay."
"That is fine. And please, call me Rezo." Arcadia went over to where Rezo was sitting and examined his eyes."
"Does this hurt?" She asked, pressing gently around his eyes.
"No."
"Tell me if you fell any pain." She said, moving her hands around his face and head.
"There."
"Here?" She asked, gently pressing on a spot on the back of his neck.
"Yes."
"Hmm…Looks to me like the muscles in your eyes were never attached to your brain. For obvious reasons, causing blindness.
"Now how did you know that?"
"It's obvious that that the muscle are joined properly when you said that the spot on your neck hurt. That is where the muscles for the eyes are."
"Interesting. Anyhow, it's getting late. Perhaps we should get some sleep and resume in the morning. Let me show you to your room." Rezo led Arcadia down the hall and into a small guest room. "Sorry it's a little small. I never was a good judge of space."
"Oh, I don’t mind. And Rezo." Rezo turned around, "Thank you for allowing me to help you and for helping me. I swear that I shall keep my promise."
The next morning, Rezo awoke to see Arcadia working hard. It was the crack of dawn, when he had always woke up. Was she up all night working?
"You're up early." He said, still a little sleepy.
"I'm an early riser. Besides, I wanted to get started bright and early."
"I can't thank you enough for your efforts."
"You are the one to be thanked. Any ways, it's no problem. If I can cure you, then that will be man's greatest achievement, at least in my eyes."
"You are such a caring soul. I promise that I shall help you as well. You are such a loving soul." She smiled at him, how he wished he could see it.
"I'll do whatever it takes to restore peace to this world. If you don't mind, I'd like to get started."
"Not at all." Arcadia walked over to the chair where Rezo was now sitting.
"Please relax. I'm going to put you under slight hypnosis so it will be painless and have better results." Rezo settled down and fell under the hypnotic powers. Arcadia put a hand on his shoulder. "I shall keep my promise, Rezo." She held her hand our, until it was glowing blue. "Energy of that which lives, grant me the power to heal." She motioned for his eyes, but was struck back by a dark force. 'There's some kind of evil living in his eyes! I know! That amulet, I can trap the evil in it!" She thought to herself, looking at a deep crimson stone on the edge of a table. She started to examine it. It shimmered with the glow of her lighting spell, casting deep red shadows on the walls.
"Darkness that is sealed within, come forth into this amulet." She held the amulet over his eyes, the dark energy flowed from them. The black electrical current jolted her body. She used all of her strength to seal it inside the amulet. She collapsed in shock and exhaustion, but caught herself on a chair.
"I can't let Rezo down." She said, struggling to get up. She finally regained her strength and stood up tall. "I hope this works, Rezo." She walked over to him. She proceeded to dim her lighting spell until the room was almost pitch dark. She gently pushed Rezo's eyelids back to reveal his sensitive, beautiful violet eyes. It was a shame to keep such beauty looked away. She held out a hand and it dematerialized, leaving a pink spirit hand. She reached into Rezo's eyes and connected the muscles to their rightful place.
When Rezo awoke, Arcadia was asleep in a chair beside him. He sat up, grabbing his head.
"What's this?" Just then, Arcadia woke up. She yawned exhaustedly.
"Your eyes need to get used to light. If we just exposed them after 30 years of darkness, then it would have drastic permanent effects. I'm afraid you'll have to wear that for a few weeks."
"I don't care, I'm so close to seeing the world around me." Arcadia laid back in exhaustion. "What's wrong Arcadia?"
"I'm just tired from all that work."
"How did you do it?"
"Simple. I just went into your eyes and connected the muscles to your brain."
"And you did you do that?"
"I'll show you, when you can see for yourself." She smiled at him, her gentleness filling the room, setting off a gentle aura.
About a month later, Arcadia was casting a hypnosis spell on Rezo. Once she was sure that it had worked, she proceeded to connect his eyelid muscles. When they were in place, she entered Rezo's body to see through his eyes. She could see the world in the way that he never could see before.
"I can see the view that you have so longed for, and now have." Arcadia said, smiling that she had given Rezo the one thing he desired in life. Unknowing to her, he desired something else now, something that she could give him as well, love.
Rezo awoke to find himself lying in bed, he could sense Arcadia sitting at the foot. Then he did something any normal person does when they wake up, but something he could never do. He opened his eyes for the first time in his life. The first thing he saw was Arcadia sitting next to him and smiling.
"I, I, I can see." He proclaimed with much joy. "Now, I shall give you the gift that you have longed for." He produced a ball of healing energy and placed it over Arcadia's ears.
"Arcadia, can you hear me?" Rezo asked.
Arcadia looked up, "I can hear your voice. So calm, so sweet. I can hear the birds and sing their songs with them. Thank you Rezo!" Arcadia hugged Rezo with tears in her eyes.
"Your beauty is far greater then I could have ever imagined. You are the one who deserves thanks, my love." Rezo rested his head on Arcadia's shoulder. She knew now that she loved him, and he loved her. Rezo was truly happy, as was Arcadia. Then, she felt the miracle that was before her. For the first time, Rezo was finally able to cry.