You Tried

Chapter 31- Stories

-Rob's POV-
"Rob, I was always like this. I was born blinded, and I never understood until my dad explained it when I turned 8. He told me it was intentional that I had been born blind, and also that he and Notch had enforced it. It was... required of them to keep me blinded. And the tale to tell the answer to why, is quite twisted and very dark.
I'd been announced by my mother, a few months before my true arrival, and many had panicked. They all spread word of the Devil's child, and such. Many of the women in her childhood village tried to kill her to kill me, but failed miserably. I was an unwanted child by my dad, and was very angry to learn of the announcement. He banished my mother to the Nether castle, and she stayed there.
A few days before me, Notch got word of me, and came to the castle to make sure the rumors were true. They were, obviously, and Notch took my dad aside. He said to my dad, 'The child will be dangerous. He must be shown and posed as a smaller threat than he is. Something must be taken from him.'
So of course, realizing the eyes would give me away, he voted to blind me, as to make the glowing less scary to those who fear it most. Notch agreed, and together their power managed to somehow blind an unborn child. I came around, and my mother was delighted to have me, but quickly realized my disadvantage. I ran into walls when she stayed quiet. I'd trip over things I could have easily seen, and she got upset.
She yelled at my dad, and tried to force him to give me my sight back. But he always said no, no questions asked whatsoever. Only both brothers together can fix the wound they'd permanently given me. It took years to get used to, and I was always dependent on a guide or my mom. Then she gave me my first pair of sunglasses.
They had been enchanted by a sorcerer in an Aether town- a light sorcerer. They gave me most of my sight, as long as they stayed on. But it just made everyone more nervous, and scared. Notch would come over, and check to see if the curse had stayed. Of course it did, which always made me a bit angry and frustrated.
After my mother died, I got very reckless, and my glasses would be left behind a lot. I got very wrapped up in myself, and angry. I would run into stuff, and it would just make me angrier. But my dad would try to accommodate that by padding the walls of my room when I was younger. But it only made me frustrated."
Sky shifts his position, so he sits there, staring off into the sunrise. He looks down, a little torn. "I- I never understood what I'd done to deserve it. The death that surrounded me was so thick. My mother's family died so quickly, and I only met them once. I met them for my third birthday, and several of my cousins thought I was the devil.
It ripped me apart to think that my family thought so little of me. And I was so little myself. My cousins would run from me, and intentionally take my glasses. They would call me to them from behind things, and then laugh as I'd run into the obstructions. They never helped me, only tore me down.
They hated me, and I was still too little to understand. I was three, I mean, how is a three year old gonna understand this stuff? I never appreciated my mom's family after that. I would hide in my room whenever they came. I would only come out if my mother insisted.
Even then, I'd ignore them all. But they always stole my glasses, and I'd be blind. Rob, it's that bad that if you took these off me right now, my vision would immediately disappear. I would only see a field of black. Nothing else, except occasional shapes and colors. I'm being serious, try."
He turns to face me head on. He beckons me forward to take his glasses off him. I do so, and his eyes are still regular. The glow hasn't returned to them. They're a golden color, but they have a glaze over them, and the color pales as I watch.
There's a glint in the left one, but the color continues to fade until there isn't a color. His eyes are pure milky white, with a glazed look to them. Behind me, I hear steps in the dead leaves. I turn around to find Ty standing there, slowly coming forward. Sky cocks his head to the side, in an attempt to figure out who it is that's standing there.
I have to ask. "What're you doing, Ty?" Sky frowns. "Ty? Where are you?" Ty freezes, confused by Sky's question entirely.
"What'd you mean, where am I? I'm standing right here. Are you blind or something?" Sky winces. "Yes, Ty. I am. Now where are you?" Ty looks at me, completely thrown off. "What do you mean, you're blind?! How have you done stuff that require sight so well then?! That's a ridiculous lie!"
Sky turns to where he hears Ty's voice. "You think I'm lying? Why would I lie to you? I've known you for four year now. I don't lie." There's a malice in Sky's voice, probing that he despises being called a liar. Ty reacts to the tone, and takes a half step backwards. He looks shocked by the tone of Sky's voice.
"Look, I didn't know, and it seemed ridiculous to me. Now that I see it, it's definitely believable. I'm sorry." Sky relaxes his shoulders, and slumps down with his elbows on his knees. His hands fall together, and he sets his head on his hands. "I'm gonna need my glasses back soon, Rob. I'm totally blind here." I hand them back.
As the sun rises, Ty heads back inside to go to bed, and Sky blinks a few times behind his dark lenses. The glow returns, and I can no longer see behind the glass. He stands up, a bit off balance, and as we enter the castle, we run into my mom. "Robert. What- are all these people here?" Sky looks at his feet.
"Mom, they needed help. These are my friends." She looks at Sky. "What's your name? Oh, wait. You're the one that took my son from me. I should jail you for that, but at least you brought him back." Sky looks back up. "Thank you. Where are the boys? Are- they okay?"
"They are creating a disturbance in the main hall. Robert, you and I have some talking to do when you take the children under control." We slip past her, and I lead Sky to the main hall at a near run. We enter the main hall, to find Vikk, Lachlan, Jerome, Mitch, and Preston playing a game of real life mini chess. Or, trying to. They don't have enough players.
They have it set up so that Vikk's a King, Lachlan's a Queen. Mitch is a King, Jerome is a Queen. And Preston is an all around pawn, trying to check both sides at once. The black and white tiles on the floor are made into their board. Preston was trying super hard in the center.
In their game, however, Preston could move in any direction he wanted. He was a rogue pawn- meaning he could check, checkmate, or kill any other piece. He's basically an invincible pawn. No one is allowed to kill him. If they were, he'd die instantly to a Queen, and the game would be an instant checkmate, killing the whole game.
Preston had somehow managed to kill off Jerome already, and he was chasing Lachlan down. Vikk sat down in his wheelchair, and waited patiently. Mitch also sat down, but he was on the floor. Jerome sat on the outskirts of their marked out board border. Lachlan was taken out by Preston, and the Kings got up.
Preston went for Mitch first, to give Vikk a break, and Mitch was checked into a corner in two moves. I watched the progress of this game, and in the corner of my vision, I saw Sky take his glasses off. This surprises me, so I glance over. He cleans off the lenses with his white shirt, and turns to where he knows I'm standing. He hands me his glasses.
"Did I get the marks off? I can't see to tell." I take the glasses, and raise them to the light above me. I see no marks, so I assume he got them. "You're good, Sky. You got them. Here." I take his hand and put the glasses in them, carefully so no marks appear.
"Thanks Rob." "No problem. But it still does suck that you can't see, man. Why did they have to do that..." Sky puts the shades back on, and blinks a few times to get the enchantment working again. "Man, I wish I didn't need these. It obstructs my sight of color efficiency. I can't tell exact colors because the lenses make every color darker than it is." I turn back just in time to see Mitch checkmated into a corner between Vikk and Preston.
The game ends there. Preston takes a tie with Vikk. With only two pieces total, it's impossible to checkmate. At least three pieces are needed to checkmate. Lachlan and Jerome seem a bit downed to be taken out, but they're okay.
Sky coaxes all of them to go outside, and they run with Sky in pursuit. I head to my mom's room. "Mom?"