Page 2 of Cruel Destinies

I walked forward, my eyes practically glued to Tobias the whole time. Ms. Heather patted the seat on the chair next to hers, and I sat as instructed.

“I’ll bet you were quite surprised to learn that you are also a harpy,” she said in her soft voice.

I nodded. “Yes. But then again, I was surprised to learn that I’m a mermaid. Surprises keep happening. I’ve just learned to accept them as a part of my life, I guess.” I shrugged.

Ms. Heather smiled. “You are very wise for your years.”

I didn’t agree with that one bit.

“What do you know of harpies?” Ms. Heather asked.

“Well, I know that—er, we—can harness light and use it for several purposes, one of them being to heal.” I didn’t know if there was more I should know, but at that moment, that was all I could come up with.

She nodded, apparently finding my response adequate. “The other day, you harnessed light to use it as a weapon. Am I correct in assuming this was your first time accessing the power of light?”

I gave a sheepish nod in reply.

“Using light as a weapon is a next level harpy skill,” Ms. Heather said. “I’m quite impressed that you were able to do it on your very first try. Healing is the skill that comes most easily to harpies, so I would like for us to practice that.”

“Okay,” I said, her voice wavering. I already knew where this was going, and I was afraid to fail at this like I had at being a mermaid.

“Your friend, Tobias, looks bad, but he’s much better off than when he was brought in three days ago. The lead pellets embedded in his skin prevented his body from healing naturally, and it was quite a difficult task to remove them without further damaging his internal organs. His fractured ribs have been mended, and all his puncture wounds have been sealed. The only damage he still retains is bruising to his kidney.”

Everything Ms. Heather said turned my stomach. I knew that Tobias had been in bad condition after the attack, but I didn’t know just how bad. It was all my fault. I was a weak, no-talent mermaid who needed protection, and I was determined to change that.

“Would you like to help me heal his kidneys?” She looked at me with only kindness, as if this exercise were not an obligation but an invitation to which I could object.

But how could I? Tobias was only here because of me, and I would do anything I could to help him, to make it up to him.

“Yes,” I said, my mouth dry. “But...how do I do that? I don’t know anything about healing. How do you heal something you can’t see?”

“I’ll walk you through it,” Ms. Heather said with a warm smile. “And as for your other concern, we’ll be able to see it perfectly.”

She tapped some buttons on the screen of the black tablet on her lap, and a hologram of Tobias’s organs lit up in the open air inches above him, parallel to his body.

I gasped as my eyes roamed the red-light diagram of organs. This hologram was live, not just a static image, but current, and with moving parts. I could see his lungs expanding and contracting, his heart pumping with each beat.

I’d never seen technology like this before. I knew that the kitsunes at the school had invented some cool things, but this was beyond anything I could’ve thought up.

“Do you see here?”

She pointed to the one organ that was a deeper, maroon-ish color, whereas the others were red. I recognized it as a kidney.

“This is the bruising he sustained. If he were to walk out of here with it untended to, he’d still be functioning, but he would be in pain for weeks before it healed fully. And he may suffer long term urinary difficulty, as well as blood clots later in life. This is why we do our best to heal every wound fully, to avoid any and all complications for our patients, whether they be imminent, or in the distant future.”

I swallowed. “So...what do I do?”

“Give me your hand. I’ll help you with this first try. We’ll do it together.”

Obediently, I put my hand into Ms. Heather’s, who then placed it over the spot on Tobias’s side, above his bruised kidney.

“Now close your eyes and clear your mind,” Ms. Heather instructed.

Easier said than done. Still, I closed my eyes and tried to silence my noisy thoughts.

“Take a deep breath in.” She inhaled deeply. “And then out.” She pushed her breath out.

I followed her example, and surprisingly, I did feel calmer after doing so.

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