He Was Blinded Yet

As he fell to his knees and screamed, Hebe stared him down, and said "Grovel and cry. Thou hast died. Beware Anubis' beasts." Phineas whipped his head around to look at the figure of Hebe, he saw the blue and white swirls form the shape of a naked woman. He was in awe, but anger washed over him as he forced himself to lunge at the God. Each leg shook as he lifted himself, and failed to go far as he plunged face first into the blazing sands below.

Hebe began lifting back up into the parted skies, with what felt like satisfaction to Phineas. As he laid on his stomach, he felt as though Hebe had begun laughing. Though he could never even comprehend whether or not she had a laugh, the mere thought of the Gods ruining him then laughing riled him up. He clutched the sands and made a fist, as he held the sands he pushed down to lift himself up.

His arms wobbled and gave way to his own weight. He struck the ground, grunted, and declared to Hebe, "I won't die!" He tried to lift himself up again, this time he managed to hold himself up only for a second before his arms gave way once more. His breath was heavy, he inhaled dust particles and bits of sand. Nonetheless he remembered his days of meditation in the village. And as he does his mind's eye showed sharper images of his days, the best ones and the worst ones.

He attempted to clear his head, but the words of his father echoed, "Why empty your mind son." Yet he could not bear the worst thoughts for even a second, as they encompassed his mind. His mind began trembling much like his arm, and it too fell to the weight of his own thoughts. He passed out with the taste of sand and defeat in his mouth.

"I hate this taste," Phineas would hear as he slipped in and out of consciousness. He would often dream as he slipped out of consciousness. Him having sight is the only way he recognizes whether he was awake or not. As the times he slept started becoming less than the times he stayed awake he began truly accepting the fact that he was now blind for the most part. Everything had happened so fast that he wasn't sure how to react.

"I'm telling you this spice is very good. It's expensive too," a hardy masculine voice would say.

"You don't put it on squid though. It's a salmon spice," a somewhat familiar voice to Phineas said.

"You poor fools. Spice can belong to anything and everything. Just make sure you tell my wife that!"

All of the men laughed, with the removal of his sight, Phineas' other senses were heightened. Out of all the men that talked, compared to how many laughed. In total he heard 6 distinct men.

"What am I doing here? Is that a camel I smell," Phineas thought as he pondered, "should I move, should I talk? Would they kill me if I do? Perhaps some peace offering? Steady, steady, calm your mind Phineas. First, think, where are you."

Phineas looked tried to move his eyes, then realized that his eyes didn't feel like his own. They felt as though he was moving small golf balls in his hands juggling them between his fingers. His eye sockets played the role of both the fingers and hands.

He let out a whimper as he felt a strain on his eyes. He closed his eye lids as he felt himself suddenly stop. He heard the closest voice of a man speak, "Did he just make a noise?"

"Means he's awake," the somewhat familiar voice said.

"Good, allow us to introduce ourselves to him then gents."

"Hey are you awake," the nearest voice said to Phineas.

"Y-Yes," he answered as he thought back to his mother telling him to answer questions precisely without any fluff.

"Lets start with the basics," one of the laughing voices said, "Who are you and why were you out in the heat like this?"

"My name is Phineas, I had seen a Great One and had my eyes taken fr-from me."

There was a silence, before one of the men laughed, "Silence," the somewhat familiar voice said. "Sorry Sir," the laughing man had submissively replied.

"Have your proof of your claims. Let me see your eyes, open them."

Phineas was seated up right on the animal that was carrying him and one of the men. He could hear the shifting of the sand and the beat of his heart pound against his chest. His eye-lids struggled to open as all 6 men were waiting in anticipation.

"Hurry up!"

Phineas could not ascertain who had said that, but within a second of hearing it he forced his eye-lids open. He looked upon the 6 men and saw blue and white swirls surrounding 4 of the men. He could see that they seemed to flow around them like a loving mother's hug. The other two seemed to flow in the shape of a man. Both were muscular tall men whose flows were as rapid as a raging river. "I think I've read something about this," Phineas thought as he reminisced on his peaceful days at home reading his father's diaries about the first rank of cultivation, Offspring. "Though I couldn't fully understand it, to see without seeing."

"That's impossible," one of the men proclaimed, snapping Phineas out of his mind's eye. "Don't you guys see that! His eye socket is completely hollow."

"As if I could put my finger through it and touch his brain," another man said.

"How are you alive," the third man asked.

"He must have some kind of disease like," the fourth man said before being interrupted by one of the two men that Phineas could see.

"Fools! He is clearly a liar. Your eyes were simply gouged out. Albeit I've never seen such a fine cut before in my life. Did a cultivator did this to you?"

Phineas' eyes jerked toward what seemed to be the leader of the men. "No. A God did this to me."

"You lie. For someone with no family name, I doubt you would be blessed with the sight of a God."

"I promise you I am not lying."

"Do you know who I am?"

Phineas' eyes jerked to the bottom of his gouged out eye socket. He saw nothing, yet wanted to look away from this threatening presence before him. He stayed silent as he tried to reach deep within his mind's eye to who this possible stranger was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know."

"I am Sir Keith Ahmad. One of 6 nobles to the great King Seth Ahmad. I am a cultivator of rank Osiris. And you are a man with no last name, so as I may address you as Finus."

"His name is Phineas," the other man with the rapid flow interrupted.

"Apologies, the man who had just interrupted me is a knight of mine, as are the rest of these sorry lot. His name is Yosef Issa, he too is a cultivator. Albeit a rank ahead of me, he is of rank Geb. I'm telling you this now so you can see-" he paused, "so you can believe me when I tell you that we are not some people to be toyed with. Therefore I demand respect, you call me by my first name and first name only. Same as to my knight Yosef, as I will address you as such. Do I make myself clear or are you hard of hearing as well?"

"Rank Osiris and Geb," Phineas thought, he gulped as he remembered the vague list of cultivator ranks he read once in his father's diaries. First is Offspring, when someone is capable of sensing qi either within oneself or a more advanced form everywhere else. Second is Set, when someone is capable of using Qi to murder someone. Third is Osiris, when someone gains the ability to heal themselves or others. The fourth one was the last thing he could remember from the diaries, Geb, when someone can affect the environment around them with Qi.

"Now, if what my father's notes are true, one needs only the beginner knowledge of the previous rank to be able to advance to the next. These two may not be masterful at the Set rank, but either way they are capable of killing me. The knight with a Geb rank is particularly dangerous. Is he the cause of the explosion I heard at my village? If he is, I need to kill him as a warning to God of their impending doom." Phineas smiled, then quickly wiped it away, just as quick as he wiped away his nervousness and thoughts.

"No. Yes," he replied feeling stupid, "You made yourself clear Sir Keith. No I am not hard of hearing, I just-"

"Enough, now gents. Shall we show him to the Raven?"