The doctor was a very experienced one. He had a career spanning centuries and had a reputation for being able to treat any kind of a problem.
Hoping he could help Avon, Zia lead him in.
The doctor looked at Avon and tested his reactions using light and some other instruments.
He looked at Avon with pitiful eyes, something Zia noticed and didn't like one bit.
"Did you pick a fight with someone very powerful?"
The doctor asked Avon.
"Ummm...I had a fight Surang..."
"Oh...he seems to have poisoned you with an eliminator poison."
Zia's eyes widened upon hearing that,
"Are they not forbidden....from any use at all?"
She asked hesitatingly,
"Little girl, nothing is forbidden for the powerful."
The doctor told her with a side glance.
"Umm..what is an eliminator poison?"
Avon asked.
The doctor looked at him and sighed.
"It is a poison that goes to your brain and eliminates its connection with the targetted part. Because of this your body had forgotten about the organs called eyes. Soon your brain will forget about vision. Your vision can be brought back if your eyes are still a part of you, but if your brain no longer recognises the organ, then restoration is impossible. I am sorry but your vision can never be healed again, not even by the most advanced technology on Steela, not by the most potent pills on Xianzin and nor by the most powerful magic on Philon."
Avon's heart sank upon hearing this.
He would be forever blind now....his last ray of hope was snuffed out.
Inside, he was cursing Surang.
"Doctor, this is what he drank"
Zia suddenly remembered about the glass she had stored and showed it to the doctor.
The doctor took it and examined the liquid carefully.
"This is a very powerful one...this is indeed a forbidden poison. I suggest you both go and register an official complaint for this. I will write all the details and provide my signature as proof ofbyour claims. This cannot be allowed."
Then the doctor looked at Avon and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Boy, you may have done nothing wrong but such in the working of this cruel world. I cannot heal you but know this. If you take the right actions now, you can stop more from suffering the way you did. "
Saying so he gave them a letter to show to the disciplinary division and they both left.
After they left, Zia helped him sit on a bench and spoke to him,
"Little brother, I am sorry it went down like this..."
Avon spoke with his voice cracking slightly,
"You did nothing wrong..sister Zia. I-it is my misfortune....I.. can't even shed tears anymore....I don't feel my eyes...my ,my,my heart is aching, my head is aching, but my tears are not coming out...I can't even cry anymore..."
In the end a bitter smile came on his face...
Zia couldn't look at this..tears welled up in her eyes as well. She calmed herself down and gave Avon a warm embrace.
"I am here for you little brother."
That is all she said.
They stayed like that for a moment, then Avon stood up,
"Thank you sister, let's go to the file the complaint now."
So they went and filed a complaint. The elder present there was shocked to receive such a complaint and began working on it immediately.
"Little brother, they said that they would find the one who did this and permanently banish him from the sect. They would also send the details to the King's guards so that they can arrest the one who did this. Not throwing away the liquid was a good move , it acted as evidence."
"I must thank you sister. You are helping me so much .....but I think I have troubled you enough. You should focus on yourself and leave me be."
Zia clutched his hand and said,
"No , I choose to help you so it is not trouble. You are my friend so how can I leave you be. You have so much potential but someone tried to snuff it out just because of their pettiness. I cannot tolerate it. Plus you don't know how much you helped me too. "
Avon chuckled a bit and said,
"What help did I give you? Don't just say anything to comfort me. I have only received help. Don't waste your precious time on me-"
He felt something block his lips. Zia had put her hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking.
"Little brother, it is said that the thoughts conceived during the night must be ignored. It already late night. Don't think anymore. I will guide youbto uiru dorm and you will sleep there. I will come meet you in the morning. Okay?"
With a weak smile he nodded .
The next morning, she came to get him.
They were seated on a bench with food in their hands.
"Little brother, open your mouth"
"You don't have to feed me, I can eat on my own."
"Sure sure, you don't even know where the spoon is or where the rice is in the plate, what will you eat? The plate or the air, or maybe the bland rice because you can't mix it with the curry because you don't know where that is too."
He was left with no point to argue on.
He was spoonfed like a baby.
Later he stood up and streched a little when his hand hit someone.
"I'm sorry!"
He said retracting his hand,
"It's okay, it's me little brother"
Zia had gone to wash her hands and had returned.
"Oh.."
Avon felt a bit relieved. He had felt some skin but remembered that Zia had no skin except her neck exposed...
'Did I hit her neck....I Swung my hand quite hard, it can hurt if I hit the neck easily'
"Did I got your neck?"
"No, my cheek."
"Oh...wait don't you wear a veil, how did I feel your skin then?"
"I removed it, I don't need to hide my face anymore now that I'm in the sect"
"Hmmm...what like that? Also did it hurt when my hand hit?
"I didn't hurt at all, so don't worry. Also it is a long story and I don't think you will be interested to listen to my troubles now, will you?"
Zia said casually thinking Avon wasn't interested in her situation.
"Of course I would listen. When I am in trouble right now, you are helping me so the least I could do is listen...or the max right now. Tell me!"
"Okay...we have time till our affinity tests are conducted..let's sit down"
So they both sat on the nearby bench and she began speaking.
"I come from a family of warriors. We live in a village which is full of warrior families and almost all our families have special physiques suitable for fighting. My body is very agile and strong. I have more muscle density than an average person. Everyone in my family is like that. Everything was going well in the village until a mineral deposit was found nearby. That deposit is the third largest on the planet.
Then all the big corporations came in and began urbanizing the village a little. It was fine too since we weren't against modernization. But then the money politics came along too. The mineral deposits were initially equally divided among the families, and the companies bought them from us.
However they didn't like it and wanted it all for themselves. So they got a few families on their side and slowly the village began changing.
Soon the families fought amongst themselves and only a few remained. The remaining ones were all affiliated with some company or the other. Now the battles were fought through talks and diplomacy.
My family had drowned too deep into politics and I and my uncle didn't like it. My father and uncle always disagreed on the family's future course. Still they worked together until one day, a new proposal came from the other side asking for my hand in marriage to tighten our relations. I was against this and my uncle supported me.
My uncle is a very free-spirited person and believes in individual freedom. He said the choice was mine to make but the remaining family disagreed.
So one night my uncle woke me up and said that were going to leave the family and escape. I was taken aback, but in the end followed him and we really escaped. Our village is very far from the sect and I always wanted to join the sect. So my uncle helped me cultivate faster and took me to the capital city. From there he would go on his own journey and I would go to give the sect entrance exam. I was covering myself because I didn't want to be recognised.
My uncle didn't need to hide his face because he has a technique that changes his appearance.
And just like that on our journey we met you. I would have to do everything alone while worrying about being recognised. But we did everything together and got in. This was a great relief for me. So this is what I meant by you helping me. Because no one recognises you, they thought I was someone new too because I was with you. Otherwise they might have tried to investigate why a woman was disguising herself this much. "
Avon heard everything and said,
"Your uncle is a nice man. It's your life, how can others decide for you. You did the right thing elder sister."