young_oldman | IC Inbox: Empatheias

I noticed their... apathy, yes. [ She nods solemly. It's just a little more horrifying to see someone devoid of all emotion than seeing their eyes gouged out. But at least their emotions may be restored. As for their eyes... ] And I'm trying to heal them-- or at least take away their pain.

You... you were there. Did you happen to see the spell that he performed?

[He shakes his head.] By the time I arrived, it had been too late. They were all listless.

[His hands tighten around his cup, and for a moment it seems as if there are more tendrils of steam, curling up from the surface of the liquid.]

How are the victims? How many have gone home? [And how many are here, learning to live their lives without sight?]

[ She'll give the numbers that remain and the numbers of who have gone home. Spoilers: the latter number is very few. Most remain for treatment of their apathy more than their physical injuries, which are being stabilized and treated for infection. ] They will need a lot of rehabilitation, from when I spoke with their doctors.

I wish I could do more. [ She lowers her gaze, looking down at her hands. She... can do more, can't she? She has miracles. But to use them for these victims-- would it be favoring them over the countless others who have been injured on a day to day basis, or would it be taking responsibility for an otherworlder's offense? Not to mention, would the victims be at all able to believe in the strength of her miracles to catalyze the process. ] But... they're so apathetic, I don't hear any desires of prayers from them.

You've done more than your fair share. [He puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She might realise that this is him willingly breaching those rules of personal space that he used to be so prone to espousing just last year. But he's serious about change, and under his hand her skin feels soft and fragile, and she looks so tired that he can't help but worry over her.] I've heard you've been in the hospital nearly every single day to help them. There's only so much you can do. And when the victims regain their emotions, they...well, you will be of a greater boon to them then now. By then they'll be...aware enough to know what they would need for comfort.

[Unfortunately, Sanae's meaning has slipped past him. He hasn't really put two and two together, that she can't do anything further for them because there are no desires or prayers asking for them to be healed yet.]

But l... I feel as if I should be able to do something more. [ She says, her tone hinting at distraught. ]

My miracles. They work... Rather, they're more potent if I take the time to cultivate them, or when I hear someone else's desire for them. [ Yes, she'll always have miracles and her abilities, goddess or not. (Thank you, recent game for clarifying that.) ] While I can heal them, it would be better to hear their wishes for that healing. [ She looks up at Lu Meng. ] But what if they don't want my help, when they regain their emotions? What if they no longer trust us otherwolders because of what happened?

Wait. Are you saying that if they prayed for healing...it could be done?

[For the first time in two weeks, a spark of hope lights up his expression.] What if. What if someone else prayed for them to be healed instead? As in, we speak to them now, before the bitterness grows in. Any man or woman would logically they tell you they want their sight back, but if they lack the will or hope for healing...what if someone else supplied that faith instead?

That would work, too. [ She nods to him. ] And... I was thinking of speaking to their friends and families about it to make a miracle go more smoothly, but...

[ But she's still uncertain. ] Mm, you are right-- anyone would want their sight returned and to be healed completely. Really, I should explain this to the physicians, too.

...then what are we waiting for? Let's go! I'll give you the faith you need for this miracle to work!

[And hopefully she won't mind the bit of soup that she's left behind, as Lu Meng quickly grabs her wrist (still not the hands, alas) and will attempt to pull her out of her seat towards the wards. The air begins to sparkle, and once again he's beginning to glow as his excitement begins to build.]

Sanae, we can do more for them! We can fix some of this mess, we can help them!

[Can she feel the shounen spirit coming from him? He's practically on fire...seriously, the air around him is getting heated up.]

[ Her brain is still trying to catch up from the fact that he placed a hand on her shoulder at all-- and now he's pulling her to her feet by her wrist? She nearly stumbles, she's so surprised. ] Eh-- but---!

[ But what? She's already feeling a surge of hope from him, calling to her core, to what makes her a god. And as a god, she must answer that hope and faith and wishes of his. It's inspiring and compelling her all at once, so he'll find that her protest dies on her tongue a moment later, and she begins to keep up with him. ] Yes...! We can! That's what they're here for anyway, to be healed! They suffered long enough. I'll help them out-- I'll restore them to full health!

[ Also she's quite impressionable. That shonen spirit is addicting. They'll turn down this hallway and the other, traveling up a few flights of stairs to reach the floor where the patients are being held. ]

[Yes. Listen to the tactician. He's got this, she's got this, they've both got this. The piece are all in place, and all they need to do is work a miracle. How hard can that be?

And seriously, he's seen Sanae work incredible magic. And hadn't she sealed away the evil in Sachiko through powerful holy spells? Surely there must be enough power in her godhood to do what science and medicine cannot. They both reach the first dorm, and Lu Meng has to remind himself to reign his excitement in. The patients may be apathied, but they could still be able to discern moments when they should be feeling offended by two people bursting into their dorms offering to do the impossible.

He looks back at her and nods determinedly before he knocks on the door. A dull, languid voice responds, inviting them in without any enthusiasm of emotion. Well, hopefully that will change. Lu Meng pushes the door open and holds it for Sanae to enter.

The patient is sitting up on her bed, bandages wrapped around where her eyes had been. Were she not drained of all emotion, she would probably be screaming and crying in denial, but as she is now she merely glances at the door, alert to the sound of the people entering the room. Lu Meng steps back to allow Sanae to approach. He's barely able to contain his excitement; surely there will be a miracle. Surely Sanae will be able to do what the doctors cannot.]

[ Once they are in the room Sanae takes her wrist back, going to the patient's bedside. This is a woman she spoke to earlier, one who she had helped ease her pain. Sanae cannot restore this woman's apathy, but she can take away her injuries. What use are her miracles if she does not use them? What good is her power if she cannot help others with it?

It's like that time she herself had been injured by Lu Meng. She hadn't thought to use a miracle to help heal herself until Alice asked her to. But once she had, everything was restored.

Her hands move as if they've a mind of her own, reaching out towards the blindfolded woman. Sanae explains what she's doing: she's going to place her hands over her head, one over her eyes. She's going to help. She's going to restore her sight.

Faith and hope are invisible, intangible concepts to most. But to Sanae, she feels it, as if those feelings coming from others' hearts are linked to her own. Indeed, they do become her own wants, wishes, and hopes, and she has the power at her fingertips to fulfill them. She feels such an energy now coming from Lu Meng, and then begins to use it. The miracle itself is just like the concepts from which it draws its energy: invisible. There is no glowing light, no strange force transmitted between her palms and the woman. It's just a gentle stroke of Sanae's fingertips over the bandages covering the patient's eyes, running down to the bridge of her nose. With that simple motion, no longer are the wounds weeping.

Slowly, she begins to unravel the bandage over the woman. A nurse nearby sees them and objects, but then stops when the wound is finally revealed to be... no longer a wound at all. There's a clatter of the tray of medicine the nurse is carrying, a step back in shock-- and then five steps forward as the nurse rushes to the patient, marveling at her eyes.

The patient blinks in response, still apathetic. But perhaps less so, because there is no pain to deter her feelings, and no one can be so unaffected by the suddenly gush of light, warmth emitting from the joyous nurse who now calls in for the others to come and see this miracle. For not only have the patient's eyes been healed, but the rest of her wounds, too.

Sanae finally backs away from the bed, turning to Lu Meng. She's smiling gently but sadly, watching the nurse embrace the patient and the others congratulate her recovery. ] ...I should have done this long ago. [ Even without his aid. She admits this quietly, that smile hinting at her regret for all but a moment before she turns and walks to the next patient. And the next, and the next, until all that need to be healed are healed. ]

[He watches her movement with bated breath. Perhaps it is his own state, as someone who has technically crossed the border between life and death, or maybe he is simply the more religious and superstitious sort, or maybe this is simply the power of their combined determination, and Empatheias only brings it out.

But he senses it, that power that's slowly building and radiating from Sanae. So though there is no sudden flash of light, though there is no force transferring from Sanae to the victim, he somehow knows that something special is going to happen here.

And sure enough, when Sanae unravels the bandages and brown eyes blink in slight surprise, Lu Meng lets out a shout of joy, his hand clenching and fist pumping. The nurse shares his happiness and she excitedly calls out to her colleagues, and more nurses rush in to marvel and chatter and happily check the patient.

But Sanae's reaction causes his smile to drop; she should never smile like that, he thinks. And his heart feels for her and all he wants to do right then is tell to comfort her. But before he can get a word out she's already moved to the next patient. And he'll follow her and be by her side, trying to appear fully cheerful and happy as each patient is cured so that she'll be happy and cheerful too.

But while he's truly, truly excited and joyful with every recovery, it has to be a little, just a little bit forced because it's clear that Sanae holds every day that has gone by without healing them as a personal failure. And that's not right. She should be laughing and smiling and crying tears of joy at all the excitement and marvel and thanks that all the nurses and doctors and even some family members are giving her. She should never have to feel that she's at fault.

Eventually every single one of the victims have been healed, and Lu Meng and Sanae have managed to slip away in all the excitement. He's guided her to a quiet room, and he shuts the door behind them before he looks back to her, still smiling, but also worried.]

Did you see all of that? You've done something incredible for everyone here, Sanae!

I... [ She looks at her hands before settling them down by her sides. ] I suppose it is incredible, isn't it? [ She agrees only half-heartedly. Because she remembers receiving this same sort of praise in the outside world and in Gensokyo. ]

They'll be okay now. They won't have to suffer anymore. [ But why didn't she take the initiative to help and heal them completely before? She only moved her hand when Lu Meng urged her to, helping someone else on his behalf. It's not only these victims that she's favored with her miracles, she favors him. ]

That's right. So you did this incredible miracle. You might have needed my help but the hands that brought their eyes back were yours. That's something no one else has been able to do here.

Don't disregard what you just accomplished. You've given them more than just their sight back, you've given them and their families their hope back. And now that you know you can assist in this manner, you'll be better prepared for it in the future.

[He takes a step closer to her and gently, carefully places a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.]

So don't beat yourself up for not seeing this sooner. I hadn't thought about it either until we met at the cafeteria. You might argue that you're a god, that you should know better. But you're still 22 years old. And I don't intend to blow my horn here, but between us I'm the supposed far-sighted general with far more experience organizing the recovery effort after disasters and tragedies. If it didn't occur to me, and it hasn't occurred to anyone else, not the Enforcers or the Representatives, then it's alright, Sanae. There's no harm done here.

They may have spent a few days in darkness, but please remember that you've given them the light for the rest of their lives.

[ It's a moment where she forgets herself-- a moment where she knows she shouldn't but does anyway. A moment where she foregoes a simple hand on her shoulder to hug reach out to him instead, pulling him close and burying her face in his chest.

Kind words, compassionate words make her tear up, and she really doesn't know why because they're sweet words, not words that tear her down. They're words to make her happy and not sad, to make her not think that she doesn't deserve such kind words. She doesn't know why it's so difficult for her to accept this sort of kindness or praise, but it is. And all she can think about is that she wants to keep them and not dismiss them in her mind as something she could have made up for earlier. She wants to believe in those words-- they are her praise, her thanks, the faith that warms her heart. Her heart swells within her chest. ] Th... Thank you, Lu Meng.

[ Her voice seems small. She feels small, in his arms, which is an ironic thought considering that she's always felt she had to be the one to so carefully protect him this entire time, from what she did to what she's said to him. ] Thank you.

IC Inbox: Empatheias

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Ooops I thought I replied to this!!!

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