"Oh yes, it's a wonderful story. It's filled an entire book so far." Her eyes faded ever so slightly and she blinked. "Unfortunately, I don't have long until I'm blind again." She said this evenly, but there was a note of sorrow in her voice.

Risus didn't quite know what to say, so he said nothing. Instead, he pulled the arrow out of his bookbag. "I think this belongs to you."

"Yes, thank you," she said and tucked it into her quiver. "Do you like archery?"

"I find it an art in which I have no expertise," he replied coolly.

"But you like books," she concluded. "Or writing."

"Or both," he conceded. "Some arts I have more of a grasp on. So it works out."

"I love writing and books as well." She frowned. "It's quite hard to read them now, but I can still write just fine." Her eyes dimmed more and she blinked rapidly to get used to the blurry vision.

This time he asked. "What happened?"

"I lost my sight thanks to divine intervention. The goddess that cursed me is dead, but I still haven't gained it back." She smirked. "Apparently, I have no soul. I can only see when I take souls from others or when I'm happy enough to create a sort of synthetic soul."

Risus didn't miss a beat. "You know, I have speculated that there is no such thing as a soul. That mind and body are the only thing that sustain us in the world and that the soul is a figment created by religion to intimidate and make us fear the Divine Creator(s) so that we don't do the things that are 'wrong' and we do the things that are 'right'. Naturally, the 'right' and 'wrong' things coincide with 'lawful' and 'unlawful'. Coincidence? Perhaps. As for your sight, perhaps it is just a metaphysical anomaly, born with a certain genetic difference that affected your eyes. But, perhaps it bolstered you in some other, impacting and major way. Beneficial, and that sort of thing." Risus took a deep breath and smiled. "However, that's just my view on this type of thing."

Aveira smiled eagerly. "Actually, I believe the soul is nothing more than energy. It's just like thermal or kinetic or solar. Soul energy changes into another kind of energy when we die. It's neither created no destroyed, following the laws of energy. Furthermore, if this theory is correct, I'll be able to create synthetic souls to give life not only to myself, but to anything I desire." Her eyes sparkled at the thought of playing god.

"If you could only create energy, where would the mind and body come into play? And if you WERE to create energy like that, would they just become clones of you?" Risus shuddered at that thought. "Not more crazy women shooting arrows at me..."

Aveira giggled. "No, not clones. They only have the same energy to fuel them, not the same thought patterns. And I don't need to create energy. I just need to change existing energy into soul energy. Besides, I wasn't shooting arrows at you. I was shooting them around you."

Risus threw his hands in the air. "Let's compramise with 'in the general vicinity of'."

"That works too." She laughed. "I like you. You're intelligent and funny. Much more deserving of life than the rest of your species." Her eyes brightened slightly before fading to a pale lavender. She sighed and pulled her blindfold on. It was nice while it lasted.