Kitsa Isles: Outstander Revolution

chapter 11: eyes

I opened up my eyes to Lana sitting silently. She peered down at me. I guess I hadn't been moved off of her lap. "You're up now. Good. Jasper's doing slightly better, but... he... his eyes were clawed out. He's going to be permanently blind." I felt my entire body go numb. I couldn't believe it. "Don't sit up too f-" I shot up, and everything hurt. I needed to see Jasper. He was probably so scared and confused. "Aqua, please. He has not gotten up yet." I didn't care. I needed to be there for him when he did wake up and he couldn't see anything. I heard Lana sigh and she stood up, helping me up off the floor. I made sure to not put a lot of weight onto her, but it was happening anyways. My stomach was still sore and it was really painful to move. She brought me to the guest room, where Thomas and Stardust were gathered around a bed. On the bed lay the small, shivering body of Jasper. I made my way over to the bedside and looked down at him. He had a bandage wrapped around his eyes and his stomach. "They were so focused on getting Jasper. I don't know why they wanted him, but apparently they were content once he was this badly injured." Stardust murmured, staring down at him. Jasper looked so tiny. I placed my paw on his small, white paw and sighed. Everything I had done to protect him was useless. I'd failed him horribly. Thomas pat me on the back. "It's gonna be alright. He's young, he'll get used to it." His reassuring attempt at words only made me more upset. "He shouldn't have to get used to it!" I cried, focusing my attention only on Jasper. After ten minutes of awkward silence, I heard Jasper stir a bit. He made a quiet whimpering sound and I could do nothing but stare. I got onto my knees and stared at him at eye-level. Poor Jasper. He's probably so afraid. I couldn't imagine being injured and then suddenly the world is just dark. Especially for such a young kid. He kept trying to say something, but he couldn't get the first letter out. "Aqua, he'll listen to you. Try and get him to calm down," Thomas suggested. I placed my paw-hand back onto Jasper's and tried to think of what to say. "I-it's okay, Jasper. You're gonna be okay." I stumbled on my words and my stomach still felt like it was on fire. But that didn't matter to me at all. Jasper turned towards the sound of my voice and whispered something. I pulled my head a little closer to try and listen. "Hurt, Mama. Can't see." was all he could manage to mutter out. My heart broke into a million tiny pieces. "I know. I'm sorry." I weakly lifted my arm and pat him on the head. Thomas sighed. "I tried everything I could to keep his eyesight. His eyes are still there, but they're scratched through and too broken for me to repair. They'll heal up, but he won't be able to see with them." I nodded, still focusing my attention onto Jasper. Lana sat down beside me. "I assume this means our stay will have to extend farther than expected?" Thomas nodded. "I mean, we could just carry him. But I don't want to risk the danger of him getting hurt even more. It's a miracle he's still alive right now, honestly." Thomas turned to Stardust. "As long as it's okay with you. We can leave if you need us to." Stardust looked over at Jasper. "Of course you can stay! I wouldn't send you off with an injured child. That'd just be ridiculous!" I noticed that Juno was in the other bed, but she was sitting up. Jasper had just taken most of the hits, I guess. It wasn't fair. He was so young and small, and yet he took most of the damage. Juno was strong and so much older. She wouldn't have been injured so badly. Jasper kept whimpering and trying to move, and it was too painful for me to watch. I'd failed him so horribly. "Calm him down. He'll end up hurting himself more if he moves around like that," Thomas encouraged me. I sighed and got up onto the bed. I sat cross legged beside him, placing my hand onto his head and petting him. "You're gonna be okay, Jasper. Mama's right here, okay?" I said, tears welling up in my eyes. He tried to move closer to me, but just ended up getting hurt. "No, don't move. I'll get closer to you." I murmured, moving closer towards him. I lifted his head as gently as possible and laid it into my lap. I pet his head once more, and felt incredibly guilty. He was only seven years old and all of a sudden had to live with being blind. He fell asleep again, but I wasn't gonna move anytime soon. If he woke up and I wasn't there he might hurt himself again. I pushed down the tugging pain in my stomach. Thomas pat my back. "I'm sorry that this happened. At least we didn't have any fatalities." He was trying to be sympathetic, but his words only made it worse. Lana crawled up onto the bed and sat beside me. "He is going to be okay, Aqua. You just have to give him a while to get used to his current state." Her tone made me so unbelievably upset. I whipped my head around to face her. "Can you stop speaking like you're all high and mighty for TWO seconds? I know it isn't just the way you talk, because it wasn't like that earlier. This isn't the time to be formal!" I was basically yelling at her. The room went dead silent. Lana looked like I had just stabbed her in the stomach. "I-I'm sorry." She whispered, before running out of the room in tears. I had awoken Jasper by accident, so now he was moving around again. "Too loud," he wailed. "I know. I'm sorry. Just go back to sleep." I whispered to him. Thomas, Stardust, and Juno were all staring at me. "I think we should just leave them alone for now. Lena- I mean, Aqua needs some time to cope." Stardust quietly muttered, and Thomas nodded. They exited the room, leaving Jasper and I sitting there. Juno was still staring from her "hospital" bed. When I turned to face her, she quickly stopped staring. I focused my attention back on Jasper. He looked so tiny and helpless with the bandages around his face and his stomach. He didn't deserve this. Sure, he could be annoying, but weren't all kids? It's not his fault he was clingy. He's just a scared little kid. He doesn't know any better. I sat on that bed for about two hours, comforting Jasper and talking to myself. Eventually, Stardust and Thomas returned to the room. They had sandwiches for everybody. It was different from the sandwiches back at base camp. These were sub sandwiches and were a lot better. I took my sandwich and Jasper's and gently sat Jasper up using the bedframe. I tore his sandwich into a smaller piece and set it into the palm of his hand. I held his wrist firmly and led his hand up to his mouth. He actually managed to eat it, surprisingly. I also ate my own sandwich, but my stomach complained the entire time. I felt like my organs were being ripped out through my throat. Lana came into the room and silently sat down at the wall and ate. She was completely avoiding contact with everyone. I felt bad that I'd yelled at her like that, but I was just irritated. "Mama, can't see." He said, laying his head onto my non-robotic arm. "I'm sorry, Jasper. You're not gonna be able to see anymore. It's okay though, Mama will help you get used to it." He weakly lifted his arms, and acted like he was looking at them. "But- that's not fair! I wanna see." He wailed. "I know, but you can't." I pulled him off of my arm for a second so he was leaning up against my side. I wrapped my arm around him. "They wanted to take my seeing Mama. They told me." I froze. "I'll keep you safe from them. Nothing bad is ever gonna happen to you again if I have anything to do with it." I know Lana said that was negative reinforcement, but at this point I didn't care. I just wanted him to feel safe. At this point in time, I began to wonder who our real enemy of this revolution was. Was it the Royals or the hypnos? I think it'd be best to get rid of the hypnos and then go for the Royals, but maybe that's just because of my deep rooted hatred for the hypnos. Plus, we'd run more smoothly once the hypnos were gone. We could build up an actual civilization on the Outstander island and then attack the Royals. But first, I was gonna take care of Jasper. He was slowly going back to sleep, now pressed up against my side. If you looked at him, you'd wonder how he was still alive. He was so injured. "How's he doing?" Thomas said, walking towards us. "I just need to check up on him and make sure he's still running smoothly." I laid Jasper down, and Thomas lifted each bandage. "He seems alright to me. He should be fully recovered in a month, but he'll be well enough to walk in about... three days. He'll have to be carried for the most part on our journey though." I nodded. "I'll carry him then." I wasn't gonna let anyone else touch him for the most part. I left him with Lana and he got his eyes scratched out. "I expected you to say that. You can't sit in here with him for the next three days though. You'll lose your mind," Thomas said. "I can bring you around to the west village. It'll be good for you, Aqua." Stardust suggested. I didn't wanna leave Jasper, but I wasn't really up to sitting here. Besides, nothing could get in here. "Alright, I'll go. But let's not stay out for too long." I stepped off of the bed and Jasper immediately started whimpering. I grabbed a blanket off the bed and draped it over him. "I'll be right back. Nothing can get in here and hurt you while I'm gone." Jasper "looked" up at me. "Promise?" He said. I could imagine his wide blue eyes as he said that. "I promise," I replied. I knew he would've panicked and begged me to take him with me if he was in the right state, but he could hardly move. There was no way he was gonna do all that. "I'll stay here and keep watch," Lana mumbled, still avoiding eye contact with me. I didn't trust her to do that, but maybe she wouldn't screw up like she did last time. As soon as I stood up straight, I felt the stabbing pain in my stomach. I stumbled around before I straightened myself out. Stardust held onto my arm, keeping me balanced. She took me outside of the cave and into the meadow. The fresh air felt so nice, but the grass was stained with blood and bad memories. Stardust quickly led me away from there and we made our way into the village. I recognized some familiar faces, like Jazzy and Bryne. They were standing by a fountain. It was so eerie seeing them after so many years. The village felt so cozy. There was an inn, a bar, several little shops, houses... it was just so nice. Most people looked happy with their pleasant lifestyle. "What lovely people. I do not understand why Mother would put someone with such hatred for these nice villagers in charge of this world." Stardust grumbled, narrowing her eyes. "Who's Mother?" Thomas said as we walked along the stone pathway. "Mother is the goddess of death. The real immortal goddess. Same with Father, the god of life. Mother appointed Rose Gold herself, which was her biggest mistake. Kitsa has been under pressure ever since. Rose Gold has the protection of Mother, making her untouchable for the most part. She's been alive for 400 years. Father created these islands to give the child gods and goddesses a place to put their mark, but most of us have been called Outstanders and forced into hiding. I'm 758 years old, actually. I don't age past 21 though." 758? That's insane. She'll have to watch all of her human friends die eventually. "Aqua, you're part goddess. I'm not sure how your aging will work. Or the limitations of your power for that. You can shapeshift, but your mother had extravagant power. Surely you have more than that, it's just unknown. Or, you could just be a shapeshifter like your father. Who knows?" Stardust explained. I didn't really know how to feel about that. I don't like the idea of living forever. I took my mind off of it when we approached the village's town center. There was a statue of Stardust in the middle. "Did you commission that?" Thomas asked as he raised an eyebrow. "No, actually. I keep the west village under my protection. It is the largest village on the Outstander island. They built it as a commemorative thing." So why had she been reported missing for so long? Why was she so apparently lonely? "This statue's been here for 50 years. I still protect the village, just less visibly. Suddenly, a village child ran up to us. He had little purple horns and a purple lizard tail. A girl who looked like him was also behind him. They looked about five. "Look Amaryllis! It's Stardust!" Stardust looked down at the two kids. "Hello there. How are you two doing today?" The girl looked like she was about to faint, but the boy was hopping around like he'd just won the lottery. "Good!" He shouted excitedly. Stardust chuckled and patted him on the head. "You two be good now, alright?" They both nodded and wandered off, still chirping happily about what they'd just seen. Those kids were safe to have normal lives in the village. They'd never have to go to Camp Metanoia or into a hypno lab. The thought of innocent kids like them inside of a hypno lab made my heart ache. I tried to brush off the thought, but throughout our journey in the village, it kept tugging at the back of my mind. "Your father loved this village. This is actually where I met him. He was scared people would be afraid of him, so he would always sneak behind corners or wear that bandana around the lower part of his face. He gave that bandana to you, but I doubt you still have it." The blue bandana! The name! "I do! Is my dad's name Cosmo?" Stardust looked at me, her eyes wide. "Yes, it is! H-How did you keep track of it?" She said, and I noticed her hands were shaking a bit. She looked so happy. I shrugged, and Stardust smiled. "He wore that thing everywhere, even if he wasn't hiding." Thomas laughed. "Aqua did that at Camp Metanoia. I never saw her without that thing." I then noticed that Stardust was crying. She was quickly brushing away each tear. "I'm sorry, I just really miss him. We were such good friends. His supposed death wasn't deserved at all. He just wanted to save you, when really he didn't have to do that at all." Thomas looked a lot less elated now. "I know how you feel..." he whispered the next part very quietly, but I managed to hear it. "..if he hadn't gone back for that stupid script, he'd still be alive." I was feeling awfully guilty right about now. If I hadn't been born, Dad wouldn't have gone looking for anyone and he'd still be alive. If I hadn't lost that fight with Sasha, Greg would still be alive too. "Unfortunately, we do not control the fate of the universe. Bad things happen, and there's not much we can do about it. Take Rose Gold as an example. I've had to watch her put innocent kids into those labs because she doesn't like th-" I stopped her. "What do you mean? Rose Gold isn't a hypno." Stardust sighed. "She controls the entire operation. She works hand in hand with the hypnos to get rid of the Outstander children. The hypnos have no desire to hurt kids, but they don't care either way." I felt my heart sink. So there really was no reason for the hypnos to do what they did. "She offered to end the ongoing Hypno-Royal war if they would kill the Outstander children. Or kidnap them and seclude them. The hypnos were getting beat terribly in the war, so they decided to take this offer. Rose Gold gives them protection and the hypnos get rid of the Outstander kids. They focus more on the half-hypno kids, mainly on Rose Gold's commands." You have to be a horrible person to put innocent children to death because of the circumstances of their birth. And yet, that's exactly what she's doing. "Your enemy is not the hypnos. It is the Queen who's ruling over them all. Of course, they're still part of the problem, but if you get rid of the source, it'll be easier to go from the inside than from the outside." That made sense. Defeating the Royals would be difficult. They have a highly trained military, and we're just a bunch of traumatized young adults. And a seven year old and ten year old. This was beginning to seem more and more like a bad idea.
We made our way back to the cave, and nothing really bad had happened while we were gone. Lana said that Jasper had thrown a fit to the best of his current ability, but he'd eventually given up. I sat down onto Jasper's current bed and looked down at him. Thomas followed behind. "I'm gonna re-check his injuries. You can sit and watch if you want." Thomas got out his medical supplies, and set it into the bed. "I just hope he still doesn't have the strength to freak out." He took the bandages off of Jasper's eyes, and I felt so bad for the little guy. His eyes had swollen claw marks over them, and blood was staining his pale skin. "Stardust, can you get me a warm wet washcloth? I'm gonna try and clean the blood off of the area around his eyes. Dried blood can irritate the skin a bit." Stardust nodded, and left the room to go get a rag. Jasper whimpered a bit, and I tried to pet his head to calm him down. "That Mama?" He murmured, flinching under my paw. "Yes, Jasper. It's me." His ears perked up a bit, but not much. "Still hurt." I didn't know what to say to him. I just sighed and continued petting his head. "Aqua, you're gonna have to hold him down for me. The second I touch his eye with this rag he's gonna freak out," Thomas said as Stardust entered the room. I gently lifted Jasper up and sat him up front of me, wrapping my robotic arm around his torso firmly, and setting my good arm on his chin to lift up his face towards Thomas. Jasper whimpered in reluctance, but didn't try moving. Thomas set the rag onto his eye and as expected, Jasper started freaking out. His stomach was injured too much for him to move without hurting, but I could still feel him desperately squirming. "Stop it!" He cried, his voice cracking. I felt so guilty, but it had to be done. "And we're done," Thomas said, handing the washcloth back to Stardust. Thomas then wrapped a bandage back around Jasper's eyes. "It's not doing much, but it's a little freaky to look at those swollen eyes." That was fair enough. I don't really wanna look at them either. Jasper was shaking nervously now, and I hadn't let go of him yet. I had moved him so he was sitting more comfortably though, but he probably wouldn't have let go anyways. "That hurt, Mama." He muttered. "It'd hurt more if he didn't do it. You're gonna be alright, Jasper." He didn't reply. "Just go back to sleep. You'll feel better eventually, alright?" I still didn't know how to explain to him that he was going to be blind forever. I had tried to explain it before, but it hadn't worked. He'd have to find out eventually. Telling him to fall back asleep was a mistake. I was having to sit up with this child laying on my lap. "Aqua, I think we should get going. I know I said we needed to stay, but he's in the best position to be transported. Juno can get around pretty well too, so I think we should head back as soon as possible. I can give Jasper better treatment there," Thomas suggested. I looked down at Jasper, then back up at Thomas. "I guess. I'm gonna carry him the entire time, though. I can't risk it again." Thomas nodded, like he understood. We all packed up and started heading out. Jasper was firmly held in my arms, and he hadn't woken up once. Lana awkwardly walked behind me, and I began to wonder if she was still upset from my yelling. "Do you need help carrying him?" Lana ask me quietly, but as soon as I shot my head over to simply look at her she backed away like a frightened sheep. We eventually passed Camp Metanoia without a word. "Juno, let me know if you need to stop. Your wounds weren't as bad as we thought, but still." Juno gave him a reassuring nod. "I'm fine for now. Don't worry." The trip back felt so much longer than the trip here. It was only a 30ish minute walk. When we finally made it back, everything was normal. Except there was another girl standing in camp beside Opal. She looked like a teenager. Great, more children to watch. She had blonde pigtails, wolf ears, a wolf tail, a robotic arm, and an eyepatch. I'm pretty sure I saw wings on her as well. Opal turned to the people entering the camp. "Thomas!" She exclaimed, running over. She gave her boyfriend a peck on the cheek before turning to me. "Oh dear, what happened to him? And I see you brought someone back with you!" She pointed to Stardust. I nodded slowly. "We got attacked. Jasper lost his vision in the fight, and Juno got pretty injured." Opal shook her head. "Poor little baby!" She pat Jasper on the head. He twitched a little bit before I saw him yawn. "We're back home Jasper. Now you can start feeling better, okay?" He looked like he was about to cry. "Wanna see, Mama!" He cried, his ears flattened to his head. I groaned. "You can't see anymore. You won't be able to see for the rest of your life." I felt his tail twitch. "They make me not see, Mama. Why?" I sighed. "Because they're bad people, Jasper. You'll get used to it though, and everybody at camp will help you out, alright?" Jasper nodded, but he still looked distraught. I brought him back to the medical cabin and hoped for the best.