Fates Parallel Chapter 333 - Healing

Li Meili tried not to fidget nervously, afraid that she might wake her little sister quietly sleeping with her head on Meili’s lap. Poor Narae had put up a strong front at first, but hours after Jung had been taken away for treatment, she’d broken down crying and eventually worn herself out.

The oversized mansion had grown quiet, even with its occupants gathered in a single comfortable sitting room. Meili sat on one of the couches with Narae stretched out across the rest of it. On the other, Jiaying and Master Ienaga were quietly drinking tea and otherwise keeping to themselves.

Nobody was in the mood for conversation, but it was making Meili feel anxious and lonely.

She wished she could switch places with Yoshika. Meili knew there was nothing she could do to help there, but not knowing what was happening was almost worse than not being able to do anything about it. She took solace in the fact that she was at least able to provide some comfort for Narae, but now that her little sister was asleep, Meili was floundering for something to occupy her attention.

“She really likes you, huh?”

Meili blinked, looking up at Jiaying and giving her a thankful smile. She brushed a stray lock of Narae’s blonde hair behind her horns and gently stroked her head.

“Yeah...she’s one of the only people who don’t treat me differently.”

Jiaying cocked her head.

“Differently? What do you mean?”

“From Yoshika. Narae still thinks of me as her ‘big sis’ and hasn’t changed the way she speaks to me at all. Jung tries too, but...she tries, you know? It’s an obvious effort she has to put forth, Narae just does it effortlessly.”

“But...you are different. Even if you were the same as Yoshika at first, you’re definitely a different person now, right?”

Meili sighed. She loved Jiaying, and she wasn’t afraid to admit it. It had grown beyond just attraction as they spent more time together, and if Jiaying wasn’t so hesitant, Meili might have been inclined to try to take things further between them.

The only trouble was that she just didn’t get it. The biggest point of friction between them was that Jiaying either couldn’t grasp or refused to accept that Meili wasn’t just Li Meili. The part of her that was still Yoshika couldn’t be separated from who she was, but Jiaying had no interest in that part of Meili.

Li Meili opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the words to express what she wanted to say—something that would finally get through to Jiaying. Instead, it was Master Ienaga who spoke.

“Miss Pan, I know that we haven’t spoken much, but may I offer an interjection?”

Jiaying gave her a sidelong glance and swallowed nervously. She had been terrified of Master Ienaga ever since seeing her slay the master of Jiaying’s former sect.

“Um, s-sure?”

“I was not always the person I am today, and I mean that in a very literal sense. The details are too private to share, but in many ways I can empathize with Miss Li. It hurts to see the people you love treat you like a stranger, but it hurts even more to cast away the person you once were entirely.”

Ienaga took a long sip of tea, finishing off her cup before setting it back down silently.

“Pardon the interruption, girls. I’ll leave you to your conversation—I need to check on my other students.”

Meili did her best to bow without disturbing Narae, and Ienaga gave her a curt nod in return. She appreciated the support—Ienaga was one of the few people Meili had grown closer with after her creation.

Jiaying stared down into her own lap, furrowing her brows until Ienaga had left entirely.

“Is that really what it’s like for you? Have I just been hurting you this whole time?”

Meili shook her head.

“No—if anything, you helped. At first, I hated the parts of myself that weren’t perfectly in tune with Yoshika. You helped me to appreciate that I am me, and that it’s okay to be me. It just...went too far in the other direction.”

Jiaying chewed on her lip and hugged herself.

“I think I knew that. I should know that. By the emperor, I’ve been so insensitive. You’ve been happier for the past few weeks than I’ve ever seen you, and you haven’t even needed to slip away to get a boost from Yoshika when you think I won’t notice.”

Meili winced.

“S-sorry. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret or anything, I just didn’t know how to explain.”

“I know—it’s fine. I wouldn’t have told me either—I haven’t been very fair to Yoshika. When you took over our training for her, I really saw just how much like her you are—no, that you are her. That really matters to you, doesn’t it?”

“It does. More than I know how to describe. Jung is my precious big sister, and I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to her. I’m tearing myself apart with anxiety and the only thing keeping me together is that I know how important it is to stay here and support Narae.”

Jiaying frowned.

“But then who’s supporting you?”

Meili chuckled mirthlessly.

“Yoshika’s friends are my friends, but they’ll always put her first—and they should. I would do the same. It just...hurts—like Master Ienaga said. The only person I have that Yoshika doesn’t is...you.”

“O-oh. Well, I’m here for you, of course.”

“Of course.”

The two of them averted their eyes, blushing. Meili felt like an idiot—even with the combined dating experience of Jia and Eui, she still had no idea what she was doing. She cleared her throat to break the awkward silence.

“A-anyway, I know that I can’t be Yoshika, but she’s still part of who I am, and I want to continue being a part of who she is. That’s why I’ve been so happy standing in for her during training, and why I care so much about my sisters—and my parents back home, by the way—and even why I like this room so much.”

Meili gestured at the room around them. It was a tiny sitting room that she had personally arranged with two couches flanking a tea table.

“It’s silly, but this arrangement of furniture reminds me of where Jia and Eui lived back in the Grand Academy. Even though I’ve never been there, sitting in this room makes that memory feel more real.”

Jiaying nodded slowly.

“I...don’t know if I really understand, but I’d like to. I want to support you in whatever it is you want to be. You freed me from an eternity of toiling away thanklessly in a ginseng garden, and I want to return that favor.”

Meili tried to smile, but her heart wasn’t in it. Jiaying’s transactional framing stung. That wasn’t the kind of relationship Meili wanted, but she didn’t know how to express that right now.

“Thank you, Jiaying. That means a lot to me.”

Jiaying pursed her lips, reading the tension in Meili’s voice.

“I have an idea. You’ve told me a lot about your adventures as Yoshika, but what about Lee Jia? If you’re part Yoshika, then you’re also part Lee Jia, right? Tell me about her—your sisters, your nice memories with Lee Jung. Maybe reminiscing about them will make them more real—like with this room.”

Meili smiled, and this time it was genuine.

“I think I’d like that. Thank you.”

—-

Hours passed in unbearable tension. The sun set, rose, and nearly set again while Yoshika could do nothing but stand by and watch Jung struggle.

The treatment wasn’t always hectic. There were long stretches where Lin Xiulan simply sat at the head of the cot and meditated with her hands on Jung’s temples—delicately performing the internal work of guiding Jung’s qi.

Other times, Luo Mingyu and his mistress would break into a flurry of movement—applying salves and elixirs and shouting shorthand jargon to each other that Yoshika didn’t have the wherewithal to try interpreting.

She stayed with her sister through it all. Holding her hand and praying to whatever power would listen for Jung’s protection.

Then, without fanfare or climax, it was over. Lin Xiulan sat back and wiped the sweat from her brow, frosty mists billowing off of her as even the grandmistress’ restraint began to slip after the marathon healing session.

“I’ve done everything I can. It’s up to her now.”

Yoshika furrowed her brows, but kept her voice measured. Even as emotionally exhausted as she was, she took Xiulan’s warning about keeping her domain in check to heart.

“What do you mean? Is she going to be okay or not?”

Xiulan took a breath to rein in her own domain, then gave Yoshika an apologetic smile.

“I don’t know. Her condition is still uncertain, and I’ve reached the limit of what I can do. I was not able to entirely eliminate the source of Lee Jung’s illness, but the essence of Luo Mingyu’s elixir of awakening has been safely purged.”

“That doesn’t sound good at all! Doesn’t that mean she’s still sick, with nothing to fight back against it?”

“Not exactly, no. The heart of corruption has been significantly reduced—enough that even a first stage cultivator with the right tools and therapy could remove it from themselves.”

Yoshika swallowed nervously. Reminding herself to stay calm over and over in her mind like a mantra. Xiulan wouldn’t be telling her this for no reason.

“Jung’s not a cultivator, though—and you just said you’d purged the awakening elixir. I’m not sensing a first stage aura from her, so you obviously didn’t manage to force an awakening either. Could you just be clear please—what’s going on?”

Lin Xiulan sighed.

“I don’t want to give you too much hope. Things are looking quite dire at the moment. Normally, I’d be telling you to make your peace. It’s just...she hasn’t stopped.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mm, the way I use dual cultivation in my healing can be crudely compared to puppeteering. I take hold of my patient’s qi and guide it into healing itself. There are limits to this, especially without a much more intimate connection such as yours, and when I reached those limits and took my hands off the strings...Lee Jung kept going by herself.”

Yoshika looked down at her sister—really looked—and recognized the slow, measured breathing pattern. Jung wasn’t sleeping.

“She’s meditating!”

“She is. And from what little I saw as I withdrew myself from her, she’s quite adept. I take it you attempted to teach her before?”

“Sort of. She joined in with Narae’s lessons early on as a show of solidarity, but I always thought she was just going through the motions. Privately, she’s always told me that she can’t actually feel anything when she meditates.”

Xiulan nodded.

“I think your sister is more canny than she lets on. Does she listen attentively when you discuss cultivation with her?”

“Well, yeah, but Jung is just like that. She always gives people her full attention when she’s talking to them. She’s one of the most considerate people I know.”

Xiulan pursed her lips and tapped her chin with a finger.

“I have a theory. I believe Lee Jung is not only considerate, but also quite clever. She’s taken the things you’ve told her to heart, and she’d made genuine attempts to learn and understand. However, before now, her cultivation was a mess. She was a novice, attempting to learn how to swim in the midst of an ocean storm. Now that I’ve given her a chance to rest her weary soul, and calmed the turbulent waters of that ocean...”

Yoshika stared down at Jung, hope dawning as she sensed a shift in her sister’s aura. With agonizing slowness, the vanishingly faint presence of her essence grew in strength. It was still weak and wavering, but with each breath it grew just a tiny bit more solid—an immeasurable fraction more stable.