Fate jumped as she heard a knock on the door. M-maybe it’s just Mana, she thought.
She pushed her glasses up her nose and took a deep breath. It didn’t help much, she still felt sick to her stomach. With hesitant steps she approached the door, hand ready to turn into a fist and strike, jaw open to bite as fast as possible or so she could shoot out her tongue. She reached for the doorknob and opened it a bit.
No attack. A slim girl with covered eyes. Only fellow New-English walked around blindfolded with no seeing aides. She wore a bright green hijab and loose clothes with simple patterns on them.
“Who are you?” Fate’s voice had become a faint whisper over time that always sounded hoarse. She usually didn’t need to speak all too loudly as she only spoke to herself, if at all, and was afraid someone might hear her. Her mouth wasn’t used to talking.
“My name is Oubastet Abaza. Mana sent me. He said I would meet someone called Fate here.” She seemed friendly, but Fate lacked the ability to tell whether it was just a facade. Only blind New-English could taste others emotions that clearly, including the small little inconsistencies should they be dishonest.
Fate had heard of Oubastet though. The Hopebringer. Former slave who got away and devoted her life to ridding the world of slavers, raiders and murderers and unite the people. Although descriptions varied. Some say she’s a violent monster who would kill anyone she didn’t immediately agree with and eats children for breakfast. Others say she a small, peaceful, friendly, if sometimes childish person.
Fate towered over most people, she had never been malnourished during her childhood, like anybody outside Paradise was, but Oubastet was even small for someone who grew up outside. If Fate stood tall, she would only reach up to her chest. That also spoke for her not being a secret Paradiser here to collect her.
“Alright, I… trusting you.” Fate had grown the habit of restructuring her sentences while speaking them. Talking to herself, she always knew what she meant, so what she actually said never had to make sense. At least there was someone speaking. Fate opened the door and let Oubastet in and closed it as soon as she was inside.
“Now… Mana didn’t say why I should talk to you.” Oubastet said while standing in the middle of the room. It must be pitch black in here for her.
“You, you can lick the room if it makes… see things.” Just like blind New-English could see people’s emotions, they could taste objects to pick the taste of their surroundings out of the air and tell where everything stood. They often describe things as colors still, but it likely didn’t mean the same thing to them anymore. Unfamiliar places they always described as dark. This sense is called colorbook, as it is described like coloring in the world by licking it by people that experience it.
“I don’t need to,” she clicked with her tongue, “I got echolocation. It’s not as nice as the colorbook method, as things just flicker up for a moment and I have to memorize everything, and it’s less colorful, but I don’t have to lick people’s stuff.”
That was a new one to Fate. She had heard Oubastet wasn’t just New-English but also something else, something more alien. Oubastet sat down on the old torn couch. Fate placed herself on the other end.
“Yeah. but you’re free to… I guess Mana sent you, because I… You want to help people everywhere, right?”
“Yes. I want to make a world where no one has to live through what I did. That is my purpose.”
“That includes Paradise?”
“Yes. I’ve heard many things about it and I want to help the people inside who live under the tyranny of Maxwell.”
“Yeah… It’s really bad, even worse than out here, I think… I used to live there.”
Oubastet was visibly surprised. “But I thought people would get executed for just mentioning the thought of leaving?”
“Well, they don’t kill you, it’s actually worse than that… I was a wall guard. Made sure nobody did something… bad outside the walls.”
“How did you escape?”
“The escaping part isn’t that hard actually. It’s just, as soon as you’re gone, they’ll look for you. And they make sure everyone knows what happens when they find you… Most people are too scared to try. And Maxwell has people outside Paradise everywhere. It’s near impossible to get away.”
“So why haven’t they found you?”
“I’m careful. Mana is the only person who knows I live here. I think it also helps that Maxwell’s people are still looking for a guy.”
“That sounds terrifying though.”
“I’m alive but, essentially buried alive, here. In this hole in the wall… It’s nice to talk to, finally to someone. I don’t know what it is about you, but I trust you.”
“I’m glad.”
“I guess I could help you a little bit. In Paradise, most people are okay with the injustices going on, simply because it’s the law to cut people apart for little reason and that makes it seem just and deserved. But there is a secret revolution. I’ve not met with them before I left but they let me know how to find them. You might be able to make a difference with their help… I don’t know how you’d even get inside though… Crimes are punished by mutilations, often rendering the victim more or less helpless while also branding them as a criminal. And people aren’t too nice to criminals.”
“So I guess an eyeless girl wouldn’t be trusted in there.” Oubastet readjusted her blindfold.
“You’d probably end up being beaten up in the streets. Or killed… or worse…”
“…This needs to stop though. I will find a way. Then you won’t have to live in fear anymore either.” Oubastet stood up into a triumphant pose. Fate knew which rumors to believe. She couldn’t help but feel hopeful.