Rosa's story (or part of it)

"Please, please," the woman begged. "Madam, I can't take care of him! I am but a poor..."
"Oh, don't give me that," Spoctoplat snapped. "I've seen your house. You live like a rich woman! Your husband dotes upon you and brings you treasures from every corner of the earth!"
"You must be mistaken. My husband was a milkman, barely making enough coin to bring us a meal every night. But he was murdered by a band of wild men!" At this, the woman's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Wild men?" the wisewoman asked sharply.
"Yes, wild men! I saw them. They had the most horrible eyes-" She wiped a tear away with the corner of her dishtowel.
"Eyes! What were they like?" Spoctoplat demanded. I could tell she was only waiting for confirmation of an answer she already knew.
"T-th-their eyes w-were en... entire... entirely b-b-b-" She was crying too hard to finish by now.

"Entirely WHAT?"
"E-Entirely black!" The woman dissolved into racking sobs, burying her face in the dishtowel. She collapsed onto a bench and sat there, weeping.
"Oh, Goddess." Spoctoplat put a hand to her head. "They're attacking? How could we have predicted..."
"You didn't know?" The wisewoman jumped as I spoke. I couldn't fathom why she hadn't heard us before, when we were standing right behind her. "They just came after us. Or rather, they came after her," I said, jabbing a finger at the still-unconscious White Eye. "And one of us decided to step in to save her."
Simon blushed. "You weren't exactly reluctant to drive those nuts back," he said defensively.
"Well, they were swarming up Midnight's flanks, and you weren't exactly taking action except to try to swing her into the saddle like the star of some kind of cowboy romance movie. Ever thought it works better when you're riding a mustang than an Oldenburg?"
"Will you two stop bickering? This is important." Spoctoplat's combination of irritation and shock was making her crone's disguise waver. Eight beady black eyes flashed at us, which was unnerving for more than one reason.
"Control, Spocky. I can see your face," Simon told her under his breath. She inhaled and regained her composure. The wrinkled image of an old woman hid her true form once more.
"Thank you. But would you stop calling me by that infernal nickname? Ah well, I'll argue about that later. There are important matters at hand! The Blackeyes are attacking?"
"How could you not have known?" I was glad for the woman's grief. She was blubbering loudly enough not to notice our hushed conversation. "They're all over the place. They've been attacking since you and the Goddess brought them here, and they did it when they were still in our world! Simon knew, why didn't you?"
"Do you think I know everything? I'm not the Goddess!"
"Close enough, you come from the Heavens and you're her right-hand octopus." She glowered. Spoctoplat couldn't stand being called by part of what she was. "I mean, I don't expect you to know everything, but you ought to know more than a random guy you kidnapped from another dimension. I thought you were his informant!"
Simon grabbed my shoulder and held it hard. "Rosa, stop it," he hissed.
"What, what are you hiding?" I asked dismissively, shaking him off.
"More than you know." He turned away.
"I was kidding!"
"Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. I suppose someday, you'll have to find out." He sighed. "Can we drop it?"
"Please do. I think our weepy widow is ready to talk again." Spoctoplat turned to the woman, a look of intense concentration on her pseudo-face. "So, what happened to you when your husband died?"
The widow looked up. "He left what little he had to his brother, even his cows. Never once thought of me in his will..." She realized she was starting to grumble and trailed off. "I began taking in laundry to scrape together a living. I had a child then, and I had to feed him. But the village already has another washerwoman! I get so little business. If people come to me, it's only out of pity."
"What happened to your child?" Spoctoplat was getting too curious. I prepared to step in, but the lady went on.
"I couldn't feed him. I couldn't even feed myself. I had to sell him into slavery!" She started sobbing again. "I still remember his face, when they took him to the mines. There was such a pleading look in his eyes, his beautiful hazel eyes- Oh, my baby!" She was wailing uncontrollably now. "Oh, Brin- Brinny, I'm coming! I'm coming! Wait for me, Brinny!"
It was slightly disturbing, and more than a little sad. The woman was obviously chronically insane. I leaned from the saddle, balancing with one hand on Spoctoplat's shoulder. "Spoctoplat, we can't leave any kid with this woman. Look at her, she's nuts! Not to mention dirt-poor."
The wisewoman nodded. "But now I have to find someone else to take care of him. How can I leave a two-year-old to fend for himself? Look at the little thing."
For the first time, I looked at the toddler balanced on Spoctoplat's hip. He was sleeping peacefully, long brown eyelashes brushing against his face. His hair, also brown, was soft and wavy. He had perfect skin, slightly dark, and angelic features. He looked to be partly Hispanic and partly white.
"This is Alejandro Martinez, also known as Alex. Son of Eduardo Martinez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, and Catelynn Maxwell, a white American citizen descended from Norwegian ancestors, among others."
"What is he?"
"What do you mean, what is he? He's human, if that's what you want to know."
"You know what I mean, what are his eyes? You obviously brought him here for a reason. Or, should I say, The Reason."
Spoctoplat rolled the eyes of her facade. "He's a Seeing One, like you. Got it from his mom."
"So why didn't you bring her? Couldn't she have been the one to take care of him?"
"She died in a car accident six months ago," the wisewoman said matter-of-factly.
"Oh."
"Yeah. It's probably killing poor Mr. Martinez, having everyone taken away from him. But we need all of you here. Some have sacrificed more. We can't afford to pay attention to trivial matters such as loss when there's great work to be done."
"You wouldn't say that if the loss was your own," Simon muttered. It was the first he'd spoken in a while.
"Oh, yes I would," she snapped.
Simon looked up, probably rolling his eyes beneath the mask. "That's what you think. You've never lost anything."
"Of course I have. I just don't feel it."
"Right," he scoffed sarcastically. "If that's true, it's only because you're a platypus."
Spoctoplat growled. "Only a third of me, and you couldn't see most of it even if I took this off." She gestured to her disguise. I was surprised that she feigned calm in the face of one of her biggest pet peeves.
"As if I don't know that. I've seen you when you're not pretending." I shuddered at the thought, but said nothing, not wanting to anger the wisewoman.
"Well, if you know it, how come you talk like you don't?" she shot back.
I stepped in. "Who's bickering now?" I asked. "I believe we all have business to attend to."
"Right," Spoctoplat replied. "I've got to find a home for this little tyke-"
"That's done. I'll take him."

Both Spoctoplat and Simon gaped at me. "You?" the wisewoman asked.

"Yes..." I looked down my nose at her, which was easy enough from Moondance's back, as if she had stated the completely obvious.

"Rosa, we can't take a two-year-old with us. We have things to do! He couldn't handle sleeping out with us. And how would he ride?"

"That's easy enough. I take an extra blanket for him. At night, I wrap him in it, then he sleeps with me, under my blanket. He stays warm. To carry him, I make a pack that can hold him and be strapped to my back. They've got plenty in Reality. Moondance can handle the extra weight."

"She won't like it," Spoctoplat retorted.

"Oh, Moony's more special than you know," Simon told her, with what might have been a wink in my direction. For a wisewoman, Spoctoplat didn't seem to know much of anything. I still couldn't believe she had just found out about the Blackeyes' attacks. Now he was telling me she had no clue as to Moondance's origins? I would have to ask him later about where he was really getting his information. He'd obviously lied about hearing everything from Spoctoplat.

"Whatever you say. But I'll make the pack and the blanket. It would take you too long."

"This would be best done elsewhere, Spocky," Simon said in a hushed voice. I expected her to argue, but instead she nodded and started walking away from the village. A cold wave of realization washed over me.

"Oh, Goddess," I whispered to Simon. "Does this mean she's going to... show herself?"

"She can't spin while she's in disguise, Rosa."

I made an indistinguishable noise of disgust. This was not going to be a pretty sight. "Well," I said hesitantly, "I suppose I'll have to see it sometime."

"That's the idea." He clicked to Midnight, who started to walk off after Spoctoplat. I dug my heels into Moondance's sides and followed behind. After we had gone a few hundred yards, the wisewoman disappeared into a redwood circle with trees set closely enough together to hide anything abnormal that might happen inside. Simon and I followed her inside.

"Here, take the babe." She handed Alex to me. I lifted him so that he was straddling Moondance's back in front of me, amazed to find that he was still asleep. I liked the feeling of his tiny body leaning on mine. Unfortunately, it was negated when I saw the legs of Spoctoplat's crone disguise start to turn purplish. They split off, one by one, until there were eight of them in all. Spreading out, the huge tentacles started to curl around things, picking up dirt and redwood litter with their suction cups. I began to feel just a bit sick.

Then the crone's head started to shrink back into her body. Her torso rounded and started to sprout brown fuzz. The eight black eyes I had seen before appeared again, this time staying on what was, more or less, a giant tarantula's head with octopus tentacles attatched. When I thought it couldn't get much worse, a platypus bill appeared under her eyes. The world spun dizzyingly before my eyes. I swayed and almost fell from Moondance's back. Simon put a hand on my shoulder to steady me. I reached up and grabbed it, not because I much needed it, but because I knew I'd enjoy a double dose of the adrenaline-filled, tingling feeling I got whenever our hands brushed. I got it, but only for a second. He dropped his hand again when he realized I was okay.

Spoctoplat somehow managed to speak human words from her platypus bill. "Well! That felt good! Now, for some spinning."

The White-Eyed girl chose that moment to wake up.

Rosa's story (well, part of it)

"See those caves?" Simon indicated huge rock monoliths to the east. Between those and the outskirts of the village we were riding along lay a grassy meadow. It was maybe ten minutes' ride at a canter to the place where it met the rocks, which were full of holes large enough to house a grown human, and maybe even a family- provided they were wild, of course. "There's a Blackeye colony in there. Not that they like to live close to anyone but their families, but that's where the Goddess puts them when she transports them. She's certainly a bit lazy. I mean, there are plenty of caves in Fantasy, at least in this world, but she's not going to be bothered seeking them out, and neither is Spoctoplat. You'd think those two would at least try to make the poor beasts comfortable."
"How does she even get them here? Don't they flip out from the stress of the change and start attacking people?"
"They don't notice the difference when they switch dimensions. They've hardly ever been out of their caves, so if they do see the outside scenery, they don't realize it's different. They don't notice the Goddess, because she shuts out whatever's in her heart, if she even has one. She goes to their caves in Reality while they're asleep, and she wraps her arms around them and transports them to a cave here in Fantasy. A cave's a cave to them. When they get here, they just go on about their crazy lives. They don't know anything's happened to them." I was trying desperately to follow Simon's words, but I was too distracted by the sound of his voice. It was so many things at once, I couldn't find the right words to describe it. Low? Sweet? Light? Rich? Melodious? They all contradicted each other. But one word was without question. Sexy. And with a voice like that, who needed any more adjectives?
Lost in my train of thought, I had failed to notice Simon's sudden silence. I looked up at him. Although the white mask hid his eyes, I could tell that his face bore an alarmed expression. "Speak of the devil..." he said. "We've got trouble, Rosa." He tugged gently at Midnight's reins and the tall stallion slowed to a walk, then stopped. I followed his lead, reining in Moondance.
"What is it?" I started to ask, but he cut me off and pointed to the east. Turning in the saddle, I saw a band of the cursed people rushing closer to the village. They reminded me of spiders, the way their bodies were splayed out so close to the ground, their legs spread wide and almost straight, their hands acting as more feet. They moved like cantering horses, their hands moving almost daintily forward one at a time, their legs coming in nearly at once to follow and pushing them off to start the cycle again. But there was no time to admire their strange, animal-like beauty.
"What's their target...?" Simon mumbled. I wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to me, but I still had my doubts about how well he could see through the mask, so I squinted out at the meadow and tried to guess from the Blackeyes' direction what they were targeting. Tracing what seemed to be their path with my eyes, I saw a girl in a white dress walking through the grass. Even from where we were watching, I could tell that she was nothing short of beautiful, with pale blonde hair that fell in curls halfway down her back and even paler skin. She seemed to be giving off some sort of radiant glow.
"Simon, can you see that girl?" I hissed. "It's her. Look at her, she's completely oblivious! She can't even tell that there's a pack of wild folk bearing down on her." Simon appeared to be looking at the girl as well, but for a different reason than I was. His eyes were hidden, as usual, but from the set of his mouth, I could tell that he was checking the girl out. "Simon!" I growled, trying to steady my voice and my emotions. It just wasn't right that he had fallen for the glowing blonde he'd seen across a meadow in seconds, without knowing anything about her, including a good deal of what she looked like. But there were more pressing matters at hand than my love life. I stood in the stirrups so I could reach Simon's shoulder, and smacked it with the back of my hand to get his attention. "Simon, damn you, haven't you noticed they're about to attack your little hottie?" I eased myself back into the seat of the saddle. He looked down at me, blushing under his hood. So he didn't deny it- he was already obsessed. "You're hopeless," I grumbled under my breath.
Simon had come to his senses. The pack was close to her now. "Holy Mother Moon- Rosa, we've got to do something!"
"That's right, Simon, we've got to breathe," I snapped sarcastically. But he was right. We couldn't just let the creeps tear her apart. "Ride!" I smacked Midnight on the rump and dug my heels into Moondance's sides. The horses picked up a gallop and tore off before I realized we didn't have a plan.
Midnight quickly overtook Moondance with his long, powerful legs. Curse Simon for giving me a pony to ride. As it was, he caught up to the girl long before Moondance, but at the same time as the leader of the band of Blackeyes. The girl, by this time, had become slightly more aware of the cursed pack bearing down on her, and had quickened her pace, but not done much more. The Blackeye leader crouched and sprang with amazing force, catching her shoulders and trying to bring her down. She screamed, and her arms flailed wildly in the air. Simon, riding past, caught her wrist and tried to pull her up into the saddle. She resisted him, though I couldn't see why. He wheeled Midnight and tried again.
Moondance and I caught up to Simon. The Blackeye was still clinging to the girl, trying to wrestle her to the ground. Drawing my dagger, I hit him over the head with its hilt. An inhuman cry echoed from his throat and he fell away from her. The rest of the Blackeyes shrieked and advanced on the girl. I urged Moondance forward, directly into the pack. She reared back in fear, almost making me fall off, but then she shot forward and charged at them. They scattered, screeching. Further and further back I drove them. "Leave!" I shouted. "Go back to your cave! That girl is no business of yours!" I didn't know if they understood me or not, but I kept charging Moondance at them, backing them up until I had driven them all the way to the monoliths. "Go!" I commanded them, standing in the stirrups in hopes that it would intimidate them. It didn't matter; they were already intimidated. They scattered and climbed up the rock faces, each one going into a different cave.
When the last dirty foot had disappeared into a cave, I sat down in the saddle. "Good girl," I crooned, stroking Moondance's neck. The albino pony whickered and lowered her head. I swung out of the saddle. She deserved a rest. Slipping the reins over Moondance's white head, I led her back at a walk to Simon and Midnight.
As I approached him, I noticed a glow coming from Midnight's saddle. Of course. Simon had hauled the girl into his saddle and was sitting right up behind her. Poor Midnight- but he was gentle, he wouldn't complain. I looked harder at Simon and the blonde, and realized she was leaning right into him. It looked like they were doing something I'd only done with Simon in fantasies. Only ever done in fantasies, actually. Oh, no. Please, no... don't let them be doing that, I thought. But as I got closer, I realized they weren't. She had merely passed out against him. Looks like blondes don't change no matter what dimension you go into, I thought to myself, snorting, just as I reached Midnight.
"Yeah, there's a lot of dust out here," Simon said sympathetically.
"I didn't sneeze, if that's what you mean," I retorted.
"Oh. Well, never mind that. Anyway, I found out why the girl acted so stupid back there," he said. "She's a White Eye, Rosa. She's blind. When I grabbed her, she must have thought I was a highwayman with my band, coming to kidnap her. That's why she resisted me."
"Oh." So she's not a complete idiot. "Might I ask what you're going to do with her when she wakes up? Kiss her?"
Simon blushed. "Rosa!" But I could tell it was exactly what he had in mind.
"Holy Mother Moon, Simon, I was joking. You are obsessed."
"So? You don't control my love life, Miss Crowell."
I wish I did. But I didn't tell him that. I felt slightly sick. I hated seeing him so blown away with someone else, when I would give my soul to take her place. "We better get out of here," I told him to distract myself. "I bet those Blackeyes hunt better after dark." He nodded in agreement. I swung up onto Moondance, and we rode off together at a trot, the glowing girl's blonde head bouncing against the chest attatched to the love of my life.

In Ancient Times: The Legend of the Seeing Ones (begins Rosa's story)

In ancient times, all humans could read the hearts of other humans, by simply looking through their eyes. In order to do this, the pupils had to dilate until they completely covered the iris. But then humankind became corrupted, and forgot how to dilate their pupils large enough to read hearts. The Goddess, seeing this happen, took pity on them. She gifted a small group of humans with the ability to keep their pupils dilated. They were simply born without irises. They became known as the Seeing Ones. However, all humans still had the ability to dilate their pupils. They had only forgotten how to. Occasionally, one would remember. But even those could not see into the eyes of the Seeing Ones, the ones without irises.
The Seeing Ones generally kept to themselves. They lived together in secluded areas. These areas were usually dimly lit, as their dilated pupils made them sensitive to light. Over the years, they formed a tight community. Outsiders were also accepted into it, usually as spouses. Any child with at least one Seeing parent would also be able to See.
As time passed, many Seeing Ones grew discontent with the fact that they could hide nothing from each other, as all Seeing Ones could read each other's hearts. These people appealed to the Goddess, who agreed to gift them with the power to completely barricade the doors to their hearts. But it came at a price. They would lose not only their ability to See, but also to see. Their pupils would be gone, as well as all their descendants' pupils. And the change could only take place if another Seeing one would take on their pupils.
Because of the tight bonds that had formed in their community, most of them could find someone willing to help. The ones who gave up their pupils came to be known as the White Eyes, and those who received them were known as the Black Eyes. The White Eyes, whose eyes had now turned entirely white, left the tight Seeing communities and ventured blindly out into the rest of the world. They knew that they no longer belonged to the culture of heart-readers. Meanwhile, the Black Eyes, whose pupils were now dilated so much that no white remained, stayed. Their ability to See had sharpened to the point where it was unbearable. They could See things in anyone's heart, things that they never wanted to know, without even trying. In addition, even the slightest ray of light was painful to look at. Eventually, all Black Eyes fled into dark, secluded caves, where many of them adopted the ways of animals. Some remembered their human ways and occasionally ventured out into the world of humans. But most viewed them as evil, because too many fear the Dark.
Despairing at this division in their community, the remaining Seeing Ones went their separate ways, now wanting to stay in the place that held painful memories for them. They scattered across the globe. But now, as the world grows more and more corrupt, the need for those who can See the truth increases each day. The Goddess and her wisewoman are gathering the Seeing Ones, as well as the Black Eyes and White Eyes, in another dimension.
There is also a prophecy, a prophecy involving a Seeing girl, with hair as dark as her eyes. It is said she will become Queen of the Seeing Ones, and she will have the power to reunite them with the White Eyes and the Black Eyes. The rest of the prophecy has been lost.