There was once a place by the name of Cottage Town. This town was well known for its hospitality and constant influx of travelers. It was a resting town that was home to people from every corner of the world. The town was always filled with the sweet scent of fresh garlic bread from the bakeries and stores in the center of town. The laughter of men and women from all parts of the kingdom brought joy and smiles to the town. All types of flowers from Lilies to Daffodil covered sidewalks and gardens. Kids ran around playing on the street and there was never a time when this town was silent. In that town lived a young boy whose name was Jordan. He was well known for his beautiful complexion. He had golden hair and a beautiful smile. Anyone who visits Cottage Town would have heard about the wonders of this boy. Not only was he attractive, but he was also the source of the town’s wealth.

Jordan, unlike any other boy his age, had golden hued eyes. However, these eyes had a special power. Everything that the boy looks at turns into gold. If he gazes at an object for longer than three seconds, the object begins to materialize and turn it into gold. Because of this power, Jordan is always required to be blindfolded and kept in his room most of the time. He walks around with a walking stick or with the help of his family members. Some view him as the greatest thing to happen to the town whilst others see him as a monster. Cottage Town keeps this a secret amongst themselves as fear of travelers taking advantage of the young boy. Cottage town was able to flourish with the help of Jordan as he supplied them with all the gold they needed. His brother and father, Justin and James, worked in their family inn and housed travelers who needed a place to stay. Even though Jordan is cursed with such inconvenience, his life at the town is still pleasant and comforting.
Traveling to this town, was a man whose name was Dr. Saint. Saint had come from his hometown after being exiled for surgery failures. As punishment, they took one of his eyes and so he had to wear an eyepatch over his right eye. He had wandered from town to town, searching for a job and home. Dr. Saint stumbled upon Cottage Town one afternoon and decided to rest for a few days to figure out what to do with his life. He came across Jordan’s inn and went in to ask for a room. Upon entering, he came across James, Jordan’s father, and requested for the cheapest room they had. Dr. Saint was struggling with money and couldn’t hold any long-term job. He was determined to figure out a solution to end his struggle and make ends meet.

That night, down by the bar, he overheard two drunk men talking. He could almost taste the pungent fermented ale in their breaths. The first one exclaimed, “Look at this town! It’s magnificent!”.

The second man chuckled and replied, “It must be because of this golden boy I’ve been hearing about; he supposedly turns things into gold with his eyes!”

Dr. Saint was astonished. What a secret to be hiding! He approached the men and offered to buy them a drink. The bartender poured out two cups of ale and passed it to the men. They gulped down the cold, fresh ale and smiled to themselves. They sat down together, and he asked, “How do I find this boy?”
The men looked at each other, chuckled, and explained, “We usually see him by the second floor.” That was all Dr. Saint needed to hear.

At the same time, a new girl whose name is Aria came to the inn with her father. She has been traveling around the kingdom and decided to take a break at Cottage Town. She was extremely beautiful and instantly captivated the attention of all the people in the inn. Whispers traveled across the town of a beautiful maiden who had entered the village. These whispers would soon come back to its origin and into the ear of Jordan. Hearing of such maiden, Jordan was intrigued. He had to see this girl for himself. Fortunately for Jordan, Aria and her father happened to stay on the second floor, where his room was.

Dr. Saint, seeing such a magnificent girl, thought to himself, “This is the perfect opportunity to lure this Jordan out of his room.” He approached the girl and asked, “Hello, may I ask of your name?”

“It’s Aria sir, what is yours?”

“My name is Dr. Saint; I just couldn’t help but notice your incredible beauty.”

“Thank you, sir,” she blushed.

“Between you and I, I’ve heard of a boy who lives in this dorm, who is said to be the most handsome boy in the kingdom, and I heard he had magical powers!” he whispered.

“I would like to meet this boy!” she exclaims.

“I heard he lives on the second floor, try calling for his name, it’s Jordan” he enticed.

Hearing this, Aria told her father she will meet him later, and walked up to the second floor, with Dr. Saint, quietly trailing behind. Hearing the footsteps, Jordan peeked out of his door in the corridor. He saw a shadow of a slender girl coming up the stairs. He was curious and gazed at it until Aria appeared on the second floor. Shocked by her beauty and complexion, his eyes were locked on her. Never in his life has he seen such a beautiful girl. He stayed fixated on her without realizing that her legs were starting to turn gold. Dr. Saint, who was hiding at the end of the corridor saw everything. Aria was so shocked that before she could utter a call for help, her body had turned into gold. Jordan was scared, he didn’t know what to do. He ran over to the body and heaved it back into his room. He started sweating and opened a window to get some fresh air in. Then he heard knock on the door. His heart started beating faster and faster. He approached the door and peaked out. Staring back at him was a man wearing an eyepatch.

“Let me in boy, I saw everything” whispered Dr. Saint. Panicking, Jordan tried to slam the door on him but was stopped by the tip of Dr. Saint’s shoe. He shoved the door open and grabbed Jordan by his shirt collar. “I can help you fix this problem,” insisted Dr. Saint, “but the procedure will be tough.”

Jordan, still shocked and scared, dropped back to the floor and sat in silence. He didn’t know what he got himself into and now it felt like there was no way out. Jordan looked up at the doctor and asked, “What will it take?”

Dr. Saint saw this opportunity and grinned. He looked back at Jordan, knelt, with a fake frown on his face, and made up, “I will need to extract the power of your eye my child, and to do that, I will have to perform surgery.”

Jordan hesitated but finally agreed. He created this mess and now he must take responsibility for his curiosity. Dr. Saint gave Jordan a bitter sedative that burned through his tongue and taste buds. He ensured him that when he wakes up, Aria will be back to normal again.

By the time night came, and the stars scattered across the sky, Dr. Saint was nowhere to be found. As Jordan began to regain consciousness, he could feel the acrid aftertaste of the sedative in the back of his throat and realized things had gone horribly wrong. As his mind began to focus, he realized that there was a solid structure laying next time him on the bed. To his horror, it was Aria, who remained a golden statue. Still shocked, Jordan crawled out of bed only to catch a glimpse of himself in the reflection. One of his eyes was missing from its socket. Horrified, Jordan collapsed to the ground. He didn’t know what to do. He had taken a life, and now he had been scammed for one of his eyes.

With nowhere else to go, Jordan opened a window and dropped Aria down into the bushes below. He proceeded to climb out the window and dropped down by the golden body. He placed the body unto his shoulder and walked toward the forest that surrounded the town. He wandered endlessly, deeper and deeper into the forest until he reached a humongous oak tree, where he laid Aria down and rested against the tree trunks. Unbeknownst to him, he was sitting under the Spirit tree, which was the holiest tree in Cottage Town. He began to cry out for help, and the forest rang with the sound of pain. He kept crying and crying until a voice echoed around him, “Why do you cry, boy?”

“I turned this girl into gold and a man offered to help me fix it but stole my eyes instead.”

“Do not cry my child, for I can help you. You have to listen carefully to what I am about to tell you, and do everything that I ask,” the voice echoed.
“Of course, I’ll do anything you ask of me.”

“The only way that you can help this girl is for you to turn gold. To the east of this tree is a small lake, go over there and look at your reflection in the water. You will turn gold and Aria will return to normal. Your missing eye will be returned to you when you turn golden.”

Hearing this Jordan froze. He didn’t realize that the consequence was so fatal. He didn’t even get to say goodbye to his family, his friends, and his town. He could almost taste the salty tears stream down his face at the thought of passing away. But Jordan also recognized that this was his fault and he had to finish what he started. He picked up Aria and carried her to the lake. He placed her down on the grass and sat down, thinking about all the people that he was going to miss. He had so many dreams that he wanted to accomplish, but it would all fall short because of his mistake. He crawled over to the edge of the pond and saw his reflection. Almost immediately, his body began to turn gold. By the time Aria had awoken from her golden form, all she saw was Jordan lifeless body, golden and shiny beside her. Soon after, the voice reappeared and explained to Aria what had happened, and how Jordan had sacrificed himself for her. Moved by this story, Aria decided to bring Jordan back and tell all the townsmen about what had happened.

Upon her arrival, the town swarmed with curious onlookers. Hearing the story of Jordan and what had happened, the people of Cottage Town decided to commemorate Jordan’s life by creating a day in order to celebrate his accomplishment and what he had done for the town. James and Justin proposed to make Jordan the official statue of the town. The townsman decided that the following day would be the day of celebration for Jordan. As they were setting up the balloons and decoration in the center of the town, and lifting Jordan’s statue on a podium, the voice returned and echoed across the city,

“Jordan will not have to die as a golden statue. His willingness to sacrifice himself for the life of another showed me that he is an honorable one. In return for sacrificing his life, he will be granted a second chance. However, he will not be able to retain the powers of his eye and will be turned blue, the first of its kind.”

Soon Jordan’s body began to return to its human form. First his legs, then his arm, and then the rest of his body. Jordan awoke to the site of his fellow townsman, cheering in excitement for his return. Jordan’s father, James, came up to his son and showed him his face through a glass mirror. Jordan looked at himself and noticed his ocean blue eyes. He savored the sweet taste of victory, of his second chance at life.

Jordan would later grow up and marry Aria, who gave birth to two beautiful twins. Tales has it that those who have blue eyes are descendants of Jordan, who was later known as Jordan the diamond eye.