章 75: Chapter 20.2
Alina looked around as she sat on her futon, her sky blue pyjamas and untied hair made it evident that she was ready to sleep. She and her friends were each sitting in their futons; Alina was in the middle while Asami was besides her to the right and Michelle was next to Asami. On her left was Alice, who was sleeping peacefully, while Emily's futon further off was empty, since she was currently with Jason.
Asami had been talking animatedly about her day today with Emily while Michelle was cleaning her gun in a serene manner when Alina zoned out. For some reason, that memory of when she first slept on Jason's arm kept coming to mind. That was the moment when she knew he was truly family, it was the first time she felt the warmth of someone caring for her after a long time. True, she had her mother, but Diana was always busy and resulted in an unintentional distance between the two.
"So, did you two really go on a date?" Alina asked after rousing herself.
"Uh, sorta," Asami answered sheepishly. "It was more like … y'know… for practice." [2]
"Practice what now?" Alina asked while Michelle paused her cleaning and looked at Asami curiously.
"Wait, you mean you've never done it?" Asami asked disbelievingly while looking at both of them, who were bemused. "C'mon. You know, you practice dating and kissing with your besties so you don't screw up when it's time for the real thing!"
"..." Alina didn't answer and looked at Michelle instead. "Did you ever …?"
"Non," Michelle answered immediately. "Jamais."
Michelle turned to look at Asami suspiciously, her eyes studying her face to see if she was lying. "Do copains really do that or are you trying to s'amuser us?"
"No, I'm being serious here," Asami said before rolling her eyes at Michelle. "You probably didn't have any volunteers cause you're a prude. Not that that's a bad thing!"
Asami hastily added with a strained voice and raised arms when she saw Michelle narrow her eyes and reach for her gun. She then slowly turned back to Alina while watching Michelle from the corner of her eyes.
"See, we girls are complicated creatures," Asami explained while pretending to fix her imaginary glass like a certain teacher of theirs. "We don't want to ruin our first date and kiss by being inexperienced so we usually practice. And who better to practice with than your 'blood sister'... You know, when you prick your fingers and press them together? Have you two never done that?!"
Asami looked aghast before she pulled out her phone, a firm determination set in her eyes.
"Ok, it's, like, three years late, but we're doing it," Asami said as she used her SEC phone to create a spell that worked like a needle. "Alright, we prick our fingers and put them together while swearing to stay as sisters and friends forever. Let's go."
"Non, merci," Michelle replied while shaking her head. "I'm scared."
"You're scared of a little needle?" Asami teased.
"Non, I'm scared of you transmitting STD to moi," Michelle answered seriously.
"Ouch, low blow, Mitchie!" Asami said while clutching her heart and Alina collapsed in a fit of giggles.
After performing the, as Asami put it, 'blood rites', the three continued chatting, with Asami trying to convince the two to try and 'practice' french kissing with her which resulted in Michelle threatening to shoot her multiple times when Alice interrupted their girls talk.
Alice, in her sleep, rolled away from her futon and got closer to Alina while whimpering. The latter shushed Asami and placed Alice next to her and laid the child's head onto her shoulder. She then stroked Alice's head until she stopped making noises and the latter went back to sleeping peacefully. Alina's eyes turned gentle as she realized that she was doing the exact same thing as what Jason used to do for her when she was younger. She fondly remembered how much security and peace she felt in his arms and wanted to do the same for Alice.
Michelle, being considerate, used a pre-programmed hologram to dim the lights in the room, darkening the place so that they could rest. Soon after, Emily came back and went straight to her futon, too distressed to talk to the others who all exchanged glances amongst themselves when they noticed her absent-mindedness.
Alina looked at Emily with mixed feelings. She understood what Emily felt and part of her wished to support her, encourage her to keep trying, maybe even put in a good word about her to Jason. But another part, a colder and more logical part, felt satisfaction at how it ended.
It's fine, This other part whispered to her. It's better this way. Let them draw a line and end it before it grows. Don't let her get hurt ... don't let her see the real him.
Neither side could best the other and soon Alina sighed and allowed herself to drift to sleep instead. One by one, each of them fell asleep, their dreams beckoning them to, hopefully, a better world.
***
Jason stayed with Helen for a while, telling her of all the things that recently happened. He told of her how he became a teacher, how Alina was finally acting like a child again, how he met Elizabeth and ended up marrying her. He would smile sometimes and frown other times, the range of emotions expressed in his face today was more than what he usually expressed in a year. Finally, he brushed her hair and tossed the flower she was holding away. The flower slowly withered into tiny particles of light before disappearing while Jason conjured another in his right hand. This new one glowed a brighter colour and he placed it in Helen's clasped hands before kissing her forehead.
"I'll be back again, sis," he whispered reluctantly, his eyes full of sadness and regret as he left the room.
After leaving Elizabeth in Morocco, Jason had travelled the world with Helen, looking for a cure to her curse. He realized that it was almost impossible to heal her because this curse was imprinted onto her soul, and no one has been able to control souls, save possibly for the highest existence that created them. Eventually, in desperation after seeing her suffer the curse twice more, Jason tried to manipulate Helen's soul but the act sent her into a permanent comatose state. While Helen didn't blame Jason and smiled at the end, he blamed himself for her predicament and has been taking care of her since.
After exiting the room, Jason walked past the hallway, his every step propelling him meters ahead at a speed that made him look like he was teleporting. He finally stopped and entered another room, a large laboratory that was filled with cutting edge technology and old artifacts such as a cauldron, a furnace, and a pestle with a corresponding mortar.
He walked to the cauldron and placed it over the furnace before lighting it up with his ability. Then he pulled a burning stone from a sealed compartment and placed it into the furnace. This was a starstone, flames from a neutron star that was condensed into solid matter. By placing it underneath the cauldron, which was still cold, Jason could focus on his alchemy without worrying about the flames. He then pulled multiple herbs from his pendant and separated them into two batches. One was full of leaf-like herbs while the other were ground herbs like ginseng.
He placed the leaf-like herbs into the cauldron then surrounded the entire pot with an energy field, this allowed him to control the temperature that was licking the cauldron. He used his energy to increase the heat a hundred folds and the leaves slowly withered into ashes while a few droplets of concentrated essence leaked from the remains. Creating a hand of telekinetic energy, Jason directed it to keep the ashes away from the droplets while placing another field around the starstone, cutting off the heat of the flames. Then he gathered his energy and directed the green droplets into a vial where it settled, slowly solidifying itself into a jade-like substance.
Placing it aside, Jason gathered the second batch of herbs and crushed them in his hands. He used his powers to prevent any juice from leaking out of his fist while compressing it into a small ball that rested in his palm. He put the ball of herbs into the mortar and used the pestle to smash it. Even as he did so, he showered the herbs with his spiritual qi as he ground it into a fine, thick paste. After he was done he poured the paste and the jade droplets back into the cauldron which was cleaned by his telekinesis power.
Slowly, Jason lifted the field around the starstone while condensing his lifeforce into his hand. The lifeforce compressed itself into a liquid state that looked like blood and once enough was formed, Jason poured it into the cauldron before completely releasing the field covering the starstone, allowing the flames to burn brighter and stronger. Soon, the jade, the paste, and the liquid lifeforce merged into one, a blue liquid that Jason had once given as compensation to the guardians of the girls: the healing potion he called poultice. [3]
This was the truth behind the medicine that could save almost anyone that was a breath away from death. The method Jason used was one that ancient Practitioners used to refine artifacts and medicine. And this was his biggest secret: the fact that he himself, and Alina, were Practitioners. While ordinary people had no knowledge of such beings existing, special people within the upper echelons of governments and militaries were aware of such existences for centuries.
Practitioners have existed for eons but secluded themselves before the fifteenth century due to the drought of spiritual qi in the world. But the Meteor Incident not only brought Psionic Aether to the science world but reinvigorated the magical world's Spiritual Qi that had almost dried out. The ancient Ley Lines had awoken once again and the turbulent world returned as Practitioners reemerged and attempted to claim areas thick with energy for their own purposes.
This was why Sanctuary had a rather antagonistic view of Practitioners; the latter had tried to take Sanctuary for their own multiple times, and this was because the artificial island was built over a major Spiritual Vein. While Jason was not amongst those who coveted Sanctuary, he knew the leaders, the Council, would definitely try to obtain more benefits from him should he reveal himself as a Practitioner. This was also why he told Alina never to reveal her full strength; while he may be able to bluff others, claiming that he strengthened himself with his Esper powers, Alina couldn't. If she revealed the superhuman abilities that came from practicing a Formulae, then the gig would be up and their lives would be even more complicated. [4]
[2] Asami is making things up, trying to cover for Emily, she's lying about what they did together earlier on the day.
[3] From Chapter 12, when he offered the poultice to anyone who was injured.
[4] Formulae is the name for Cultivation Techniques. The name Techniques exist, but it is known by Daoist Cultivators in China. Internationally, it's known as Formulae, mostly in part because it's been improved by scientific means.
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