Thalia's Tale - Chapter Eleven - Thalia and Logan

    “Strange…” Seto flicked off the light he’d been shining in Thalia’s eyes and walked across the room as she blinked several times. “Very strange…”

    “What is it?” Thalia asked.

    “Well, from what I can tell, that potion he sprayed on you was supposed to completely scramble your brains and make you unable to move or speak.” Seto said. “But whoever made the potion isn’t very good at it.”

    “Venom told me that the squid said a man with gray hair and red eyes helped Xandra make the potion.”

    Seto’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?” He asked.

    “Yes.” Thalia said. “Why?”

    Seto shook his head. “Nothing…” He said. “Anyways, all the potion did was get in your eye. Instead of messing with your brain, it messed with your sight. If he had managed to get another squirt in, you’d either have bad eyesight or be blind. Luckily, it just opened a cut under your eye. Nothing major, it should heal in a week or two.

    “Can you do anything about it?” Thalia hopped off the edge of the Infirmary bed. “Can you fix it?"
    “I can’t.” Seto said. “I don’t know how. But it won’t hurt you. You’ll just look a bit different.”

    Thalia sighed. “Well… Thank you, Doctor."

    Seto smiled grimly and patted her shoulder lightly. “Go get some rest.” He said. “Doctor’s orders.”

    Thalia nodded and left the Infirmary without another word.

    

    Thalia finally made it back to her quarters and sat down on her bed. She sighed and was a about to take a shower when her door suddenly opened.

    “Thalia, Venom told me…” Logan’s voice trailed off as he got a good look at Thalia for the first time. “Hey… What’s going on with your eye…?”

    He stepped forward and reached out for her face but she smacked his hand away.

    “I just wanna look at it!” Logan snapped.

    Thalia growled. “Fine…” She muttered.

    “Don’t move, I don’t wanna poke your eye…” Logan reached out more slowly this time and took hold of her face beside her left eye, staring into it curiously. She stared back at his striking blue eyes awkwardly.

    “What are you-”

    “I said don’t move!”

    Thalia sighed and looked away. After a moment, she looked back up at him again. He seemed genuinely concerned. Why was he so concerned? He was always so… Uncompassionate. But that word didn't fit him at all; quite the contrary, actually. He was only uncompassionate around her.

    Finally, Logan pulled his hand away, but still had his gaze fixed on Thalia’s eyes.

    “What did you do?” He asked.

    Thalia sighed and briefly explained to him what Seto had told her about the potion. As they did, both sat down on the edge of the bed.

    “How about that.” Logan said. “You’re lucky you didn’t go blind.”

    “I know…” Thalia rubbed her eye. “I just… Wish there were some way to reverse it.” Thalia grinned. “So you’re not gonna tell anybody about this eye thing…”

    “Well…” He looked away uncertainly.

    “Logan!”

    “Alright, alright, I was just teasing!” Logan half smiled as he looked at Thalia again. “And what ever happened to Ginger?”

    Thalia looked surprised. “I thought you hated that.”

    “Well I mean… I don’t hate it…” Logan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

    Thalia rolled her eyes. As she did, the clock on her wall caught her eye. “Shit! It’s way past sundown! I gotta go meet Sky at the hall!”

    She sprang to her feet. Logan carefully set Jeepers down on the bed so as not to wake him and stood up, unlocking and opening the door. “I’ll see you later then.” He said.

    Thalia gave him a rushed smile as she closed the door. “Later Ginger!” She said.

    She ran to the other end of the room and pulled on her boots as fast as she could. She hopped into the other one, losing her balance in the process and falling with a shout. She groaned and sat up, pulling on her boot while sitting. Thalia stood up and brushed herself off. As she did, she looked at herself in the mirror and froze.

    She stared at her eye for a moment and sighed. “I can’t go out like this…” She muttered.

    .         .         .

    Sky raised an eyebrow as Thalia entered the training hall. “You’re late.” He said, crossing his arms.

    “I’m sorry about that. I was doing something with my friend and I lost track of time.” Thalia replied.

    “What’d you do with your hair?” He asked.

    “Oh, this?” Thalia laughed at her hair, parted differently to cover her left eye. “I just felt like trying something different. You like it.”

    “Oh, yes, very stylish.” Sky said. He pulled out his wooden sword. “Ready for a practice bout then?”

    Thalia was taken by surprise. “Oh! Yes, of course!” She grabbed her own wooden practice sword and readied herself. Sky didn’t waste any time.

    He lunged forward and she parried quickly. He moved again and she once again parried the attack. Then she made her own attack. Sky immediately swiped her blade to the right and disappeared to her left side. She righted herself and spun around, but he was nowhere to be seen. She looked around wildly, but it was no use. The Commander had disappeared.

    Then, all at once, Thalia felt a blade up against her neck and Sky was there again. “If I’d been a squid, you’d be dead right now.” He placed his sword back into his sheath. “All because your hairdo created an unnecessary blind spot. You can’t keep one eye blind, Thalia, that leaves you more vulnerable than you can afford.”

    “Then why does General Ellis do it?” Thalia asked.

    “Because he trained to.” Sky replied. “It took him years to get used to it, but it was either that or cut it. And he really liked that haircut."

    “Then surely I can learn!” Thalia said.

    Sky raised one eyebrow. “You’ll go through all that extra training just for a hair style?”

    Thalia glared up at him in silence, unable to come up with a witty reply. Sky sighed and his gaze softened. “Thalia, Seto told me what happened.” He said. “So did Venom.”

    Thalia looked away quickly.

    “It’s okay to feel self conscious.” Sky said. “It’s human nature. Around here, everybody’s different.” He hesitated for a moment as he realized that Thalia wasn’t listening. “Thalia, have I ever told you about Dawn?”

    Thalia looked up. “No.” She said. “Venom told me she used to be your girlfriend.”

    “Oh, she was more than that…” Sky sat down on a bench and smiled grimly. “We were going to get married.”

    “What happened?” Thalia asked, sitting down beside him.

    Sky sighed. “I got too involved with my army. I didn’t give her the attention she deserved. So I lost her.” He looked at Thalia. “Did you know that she had mismatching eyes?”

    Thalia looked up at her master. “Really?”

    Sky nodded. “And mismatching hair too. Purple and pink. Split straight down the middle.” He said. “But she never covered it up. In fact, she took pride in it. She loved the face that she was different from everyone else. She called it a gift from god. Crazy Christians, you know how they are.” Sky looked at Thalia and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Don’t hide away your differences.” Sky said. “Be proud of them. Because if you’re not different, you’re normal. And normal is boring.”

    Thalia looked up at Sky and smiled. “Thanks, Commander.” She said. She sighed and her smiled faded again as she looked away. Sky cocked his head to one side. “What’s up, kid?”

    “It’s just… My dad. I miss him. He’s been gone for months now and… I feel like that’s something he would tell me.”

    Sky smiled sadly. “Go get some rest, Thalia.” He said. “Tomorrow, I’ll teach you about balance.”

    Thalia nodded and left the training hall with a yawn. “Goodnight Commander.” She said.

    “Goodnight, Thalia.” Sky waited until she was gone before he stood and walked to the entrance. He shut off the lights and walked into the corridor as the hall was covered in darkness.