Haziel’s Sight

Rosalind and Coltia came over to the two priestesses seated at Arthur’s small table, with just enough chairs for four. Adeline seemed particularly wary, yet curious of Coltia, something that Rosalind picked up on quickly. Rosalind used this to her advantage, and asked to speak with Haziel more privately, saying that she was curious about Haziel’s abilities and training. Adeline seemed interested in speaking to Coltia one-on-one as well, so the group split in two, just as Rosalind had hoped.

Rosalind and Haziel left through the front door, walking out some distance before arriving at a fallen tree by the side of the path. The two women took seats next to each other. Haziel seemed a little extra nervous during the walk, but then again Rosalind wasn’t free of nervousness herself. Despite her own feelings, Rosalind made sure to be considerate of Haziel, speaking to her in a calm and gentle tone, and not push the conversation along too fast. She started off with soft questions, like where Haziel grew up and what her training was like.

Haziel was quiet and soft spoken at the start, but she started to warm up to Rosalind as she talked more about her personal past. Haziel was an orphaned child who lived with the church for as long as she could remember. Growing up, she was close with the other orphaned children, as well as the priests and priestesses that raised them. She never showed any special talents as a child, in fact she didn’t stand out much at all because of her shy personality. She would help with cooking and cleaning, learn whatever the priests had the time to teach, or play with the other children with her time. Life was humble, but simple.

Later on, when she was growing into a young adult, her eyes began to ****. What was once crystal clear became blurry and indistinguishable. It continued to progress until she could only perceive whether it was bright or dark in front of her, not even able to distinguish shapes anymore. The priests were extremely concerned by her condition, and tried to help her as much as they could, but no one in the church had a solution, nor the external healers that they consulted. Haziel would have to live the rest of her life without her sight.

Some of the priests saw this as a test of faith, and told Haziel to maintain hope despite her situation. She listened to them, sincerely hoping for a miracle, as the only alternative was to give in to despair. Even though her heart was lost and confused, she still brought herself to pray, even when it did nothing for her. Despite that, it became routine and somewhat normal. She was getting used to living without her sight. However, during one of these prayers she finally saw… something. She wasn’t sure if it was real, if it wasn’t some sort of imaginary thing… but when she concentrated, she saw it again. She excitedly told those around her, and they helped her investigate what this strange sight was.

It took some experimenting and speculation, but the church quickly linked what she perceiving to the flow of magic energy, then rejoiced at this blessing from the gods. In the church’s long history, there were past examples of gifted individuals who had gone through what Haziel did. Those individuals were of great historical importance, and the church quickly circulated the news internally. Haziel was blessed with sight beyond sight, and was destined for greatness.

Haziel was given resources and training to master her blessing. It certainly wasn’t easy, as she had to spend nearly all of her time and energy trying to fulfill her potential. She wasn’t just glad to be able to “see” again, but also to be useful to the people that raised her. Later on in her training, she went on some missions with the guidance of other priests, but the current mission to Knottori was the first to be unaccompanied. It was low risk, the knights would be there, and it happened to be relatively close. Well, Adeline decided to join her at Lindow, but that didn’t really count did it?

Rosalind listened closely to Haziel’s story, finding it quite interesting despite the situation. After Haziel finished talking about her past, Rosalind only felt it was right to share a bit about her own history… the real Rosalind’s history. She talked about Rosalind’s life before arriving at Knottori, from upbringing to joining the knights, even the problems that Rosalind faced while in the 26th squad.

Haziel listened closely in turn, asking curious questions about a lifestyle she had never known. Haziel had few opportunities to explore the world outside of the church, and was fascinated by a knight’s lifestyle. Even if she wanted to ask the four knights that she traveled to Knottori with, they all seemed to be in their own group, and she was too shy to try to join it. By the end of Rosalind’s stories, and answering all of Haziel’s questions, the two of them didn’t feel like strangers anymore. Perhaps not quite close enough to be called friends yet, but they were becoming comfortable with each other now.

Rosalind asked a little bit more about how Haziel perceived magic energy. What did it look like to her? Haziel explained that magic energy had shape, color, and movement based on its properties. Greater amounts were brighter or larger, and the color signified which affinity the particular magic energy had. She could observe the movement of these energies, and with her training, she was able to recognize a spell before it was manifested in the physical world. She could perceive these movements not only within a magic tool, but also within a caster’s body.

At that point, Haziel fell into an awkward silence, along with Rosalind. There was no doubt in Rosalind’s mind now that Haziel had perceived her guilty and perverse actions at the inn dining table. Rosalind didn’t know what to do or say, and neither did Haziel.

The embarrassment made her nervous again, and a question shot into her mind. Could Haziel somehow tell that Rosalind was being possessed right now? No wait, with what she knew from Morgan’s journal, there shouldn’t be any magical energy left from the spell, but still, what if Haziel could tell… something? While Rosalind was deep in concern, Haziel broke the silence and spoke up.

“Rosalind… Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Um… you are one of the few people that I know outside of the church and the orphanage, so I’d like to ask you something…”

Rosalind didn’t know where this was going, but agreed to hear what Haziel was asking.

“So with my ability, I don’t just perceive the magic energies used in magic tools and spells, but even the smallest amounts that reside in every living creature. I can perceive normal people that have never used magic in their lives… and if I look closely enough I can even see the tiniest movements within their bodies.”

Rosalind didn’t like the direction that this was headed, did Haziel see something… off about her?

“And… I may have watched some things that people might… want to keep private. I couldn’t help it okay? But in the past, I’ve seen… people doing… things… by themselves and with others…”

Rosalind realized that Haziel wasn’t talking about her, and felt a wave of relief wash over her.

“I don’t have that much experience outside of my training and duties, but I can’t say that I am not… curious. You know, about love and stuff…”

“...and stuff?”

“You know… don’t make me say it! The stuff that lovers do!”

Rosalind almost had to stifle a laugh, as the sheltered girl was practically dying from embarrassment. Rosalind managed to keep a straight face, and respond to Haziel, who was starting to regret opening up.

“It’s okay, I understand Haziel. Everyone gets curious about that kind of stuff, it’s natural so don’t be embarrassed. I can understand why you couldn’t talk to anyone in the church about this, and I’m glad that you trust me. So tell me, what are you curious about exactly?”

Rosalind’s words of assurance calmed Haziel down a little. Rosalind could see the effect of her words, as Haziel’s nervousness subsided, although the flushed embarrassment remained. She looked kind of cute… sitting there all red and flustered… Maybe Rosalind could offer some… hands-on guidance… No wait, stop! As Haziel took a moment to think of a question, Rosalind had to battle against her desires, which had resurfaced after her earlier nervousness receded.

“Well… there was this one time… one of the priestesses… she was alone and, um, she put her hands… down, uh, between her legs. She started to move her hands, and I could see the energy in her body starting to get… rough. And she kept doing it until there was this… burst! Well, uh, I… I tried it a little myself… uh, don’t tell anyone okay! No one, not a single soul okay!”

Rosalind promised Haziel that this would stay between them, and Haziel continued.

“Okay, so I tried it myself, and it felt… nice, but I don’t think I did it right. I could get myself… “rough” like she did… but I can’t get the “burst” part. I watched her… a few times, and I even did it while watching her… to make sure I was doing it the right way, okay! Not any other reason! …But every time she did it… I couldn’t… Do you think something is wrong with me?”

Haziel’s voice was quivering a little as she asked the question, and Rosalind had to mentally restrain herself. She wanted to pull Haziel close, wrap her arms around her, and give her a hug to comfort her. Well, she also had to hold back the part of her that wanted to go past hugging… but that was separate! Anyways, Rosalind did her best to give Haziel a good answer.

“No! Haziel, of course not, you’re just new at this, that’s all. There's nothing wrong with you. Just like you had to learn how to use your abilities, you also need to learn about yourself in… other ways. What works for that priestess might not work for you, so don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’ll need to, uh, “explore” a little on your own, to find out how your body works. Oh, and not just your body, find what… ideas and uh, situations? No, perhaps fantasies is a better word? Anyways, find what makes your mind excited… that will help.”

Haziel was listening intently, as if she was receiving secret knowledge from a master. It was almost like she was taking notes, but of course she had nothing to write with. Her desire for knowledge was overcoming her shyness at this point.

“Well, I did notice that it felt a lot better while I was watching that priestess do it… is that what you mean?”

“Maybe? It varies from person to person, just like any other difference we have. What interests others may not interest you, it’s up to you to find what works.”

“Oh, I see! Um, if you don’t mind me asking… is what you did at the dinner table… is that your… “interest”?”

Rosalind was surprised by this question and hesitated to answer, but felt like she couldn’t refuse to answer Haziel at this point.

“Uh… yeah… sort of.”

Haziel noticed the awkwardness of Rosalind’s response and quickly apologized.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize-”

“No, no, it’s fine. You have been very open with me, so I thought I would be open with you too. It’s only fair, don’t worry about it.”

“Okay…”

“No really, don’t worry about it! Um, anyways, we should probably stop for now. Some of the people in the house might have finished talking, and might walk by here. If you have more questions, or want to talk later, you can find me again tonight.”

Haziel thanked Rosalind, and the two of them started to head back to Arthur’s house together. Rosalind caught herself admiring Haziel’s behind as she walked, and kept needing to suppress her desires. She would have to take care of herself in private, hopefully sooner rather than later. She didn’t want to do something to her new friend. Friend? They were certainly closer now, maybe enough to be called friends? Maybe something more like a master and disciple? It was a strange and fragile relationship, but not a bad one.

When the two of them returned, they found that most of the other conversations had calmed down to a simmer at this point. It was starting to get late in the day, with the sun sure to set soon. Rosalind spoke up, and proposed that the group head to the inn for dinner together. Everyone agreed, and started to file out the front door together.

People continued to lightly converse as they walked together to the Knottori inn, although Rosalind couldn’t do the same with Haziel. The topic of their talks had to stay private for obvious reasons. As the shadows lengthened and the sunlight started to shift into a darker orange, the large group reached the inn and filed into the front door for food and drink. Rosalind told the group that she wasn’t hungry yet, and that she would start writing the report that the court trial would need.

Rosalind left upstairs, and locked herself in her room, and immediately started getting busy with herself. She knew that Haziel could see her… and that only made her even more excited. Whether consciously or not, Rosalind’s movements were more exaggerated and performative than normal, as if she was trying to give her new “friend” a show. Haziel sat next to Adeline downstairs, blushing a deep shade of red as she drank up everything Rosalind was giving her.

Haziel felt… warm inside… Eating right next to Adeline, while watching Rosalind desperately pleasure herself, with no one the wiser… It was more exciting than she wanted to admit. And the fact that she could watch Rosalind’s most private moment, the moments where she shed the polite and disciplined exterior of a knight and revealed a hedonistic self-pleasuring animal… The fact that there was nothing Rosalind could do to hide it from her… Oh gods, Haziel was starting to feel “rough” inside just thinking about it.

The rest of the dining room was blissfully unaware of Rosalind’s activities and Haziel’s sexual awakening. They were just enjoying a hot meal and cold drink, just like any other day in any other village. Knottori was just another peaceful village after all, and the assignment that promised a dangerous excitement of dark magic turned out to just be a prisoner escort at the end of the day. As more patrons arrived, plates were emptied and cups were drained, dinner conversation devolved into loud chatter as the inn’s dining room was filled with a jolly atmosphere. The sun had set and the moon rose, as the night took Knottori once more.