A Sinner’s Chance

I had no clue what the prince could possibly be looking for from me, we'd talked maybe two or three times in all the time we'd gone to school together. He seemed to have mellowed out over time, the arrogance he'd first displayed during the first combat assessment was nowhere to be seen, he was like a serene lake without ripple.

He seemed to notice me as he stood and it was only then that I saw the headband I thought he'd been wearing was actually a black blindfold that lay across eyes. It didn't seem to impair him at all as he looked directly at my face. "The third prince greets you, Empress of Torment." He said as he bowed in an overexaggerated manner, an undertone of sarcasm lacing his voice.

I wasn't sure how or if he was actually seeing but I waved my hand nonetheless. "I'd honestly rather not be called that, it's just something a group of strangers are calling me. Did you need me for something?" I was honestly ready to be done for the day, or perhaps week. While I was going to challenge the others in the ranking, I wanted to see what Skills Ellie had picked out for me first.

The prince laughed lightly as he stood straight once again. "Not to worry, I won't take much of your time." He paused just a moment as he once again sat on nothing. "I assume you heard about my accident?"

I shook my head. "No, but I assume it has to do with that blindfold?"

He nodded a hand reaching up and rubbing against the cloth. "Well, not surprising, you have practically been a hermit ever since your accident with Arya. An accident in Alchemy two years back, during a group project, a student tripped and managed to shatter a vial of acid on my face. Thankfully care was quick, and while I wasn't scarred, my eyes no longer function, at least not in the normal sense. I perceive the physical space around me, I am unable to describe it, but it matters not for the reason I am before you is because something else I can see."

He took a moment to pull out his Status Plate and handed it over to me, there were two entries visible, Title and Gifts. The entries themselves were nearly identical. His Title was Weaver Initiate, while the Gift was simply Weaver, without thinking I used Vision of Seshat on them, revealing their information.

'Weaver Initiate: One who has taken their first steps of becoming a Weaver. Provides bonuses to Foresight and Fated Threads. Granted by Weaver.'

'Weaver: An extremely rare Gift that manifests in a few creatures with exceptional Affinity for Spacetime lose their eyesight. Grants Foresight and Fated Threads. Increases proficiency with all Spacetime Skills.'

If it weren't for the fact that he had shown me I doubted I could believe that he'd had manifested these due to blindness. Not only did it grant at least one Skill that sounded broken as hell, but he also had all his Spacetime Skills raised. It had never occurred to me to check the Affinities out rather than just the entries that changed, I had Primordial Space Magic as a Skill, yet its description had never mentioned anything about time. When I'd first gained Vision of Seshat, I recalled that my Novice Life Magic had changed it's description to include death energy as well, and now it was actually split into Primordial Death Magic and Primordial Life Magic.

I planned to check them out later but first I handed back the prince's Status Plate. "What am I supposed to do with this information?" That was the biggest question I had, why had after all this time did he seek me out to show me this?

The prince simply shrugged. "I sought you out because the thread around you has shifted from green to yellow, I don't know what this change means, but for some reason it is connected to Hiroshi's thread. I think you should be careful." He stood up and put a hand on my shoulder without me even noticing that he had moved. "I don't want to pry or anything, but the thread that connects you and your sisters is in bad shape."

Before I could ask what that meant the prince had disappeared, leaving me alone with all sorts of questions, and no answers. He came to give me a warning, yet had only said that my thread had changed color because of Hiroshi. Did that mean I shouldn't challenge him? That I should talk to him? Avoid him? Kill him in his sleep?

I groaned with frustration as I made back to the small home that was my 'room'. The sun was just setting and as I entered I saw it was empty, Arya had gone out and had yet to return. I wasn't really in the mood to do anything so I just took my equipment off and decided to go soak in the hot spring, while I tried to sort through what I'd been told and what I should do with it.