Faith Heights

Chapter 41

Why did Lydia have so much faith in me? The last time I'd been in her office, I almost caused the room to implode. And whatever that white light coating the plant had been, I imagined it could do a lot more damage than what we'd witnessed.

But Leclair claimed that Lydia knew what she was doing, so I had to trust her if I ever wanted to acquire better control. And if there was one thing I was good at, it was control.

I let out a shaky breath. "Okay. Let's do this."

"Close your eyes," She instructed.

Without a word, I laid back on the couch and took a series of deep breaths, but was unable to keep my eyes shut for long.

Lydia smiled gently, and I heard the wheels of her chair move closer.

"You're probably worried that we'll have a repeat of your last session. Don't worry. I have every faith in you."

"That makes one of us," I muttered, but managed to weigh my eyelids down.

A few minutes passed, and Lydia began reciting the same steps as last time, trying to help lull me into that lucid state. She moved even slower through the meditative process than she had last time, but there was no set time limit on this session, unlike the last. Even though it took longer, I thought perhaps it felt easier to find that same final state, as if I was climbing up a hill instead of a mountain. As soon as I reached its peak, my mind tried to drift, and again it was only through focusing on my breathing that I didn't fall into unconsciousness. The near-blackness was soon replaced by a million crystallised thrums of energy, and yet, at the same time, they were all connected as one, reaching to the sky. I longed to open my eyes and see the true colours and sights of this place beyond its mere feel, but I didn't dare risk breaking my link.

I sat up, keeping my eyes tightly scrunched. I didn't allow myself to revel in the energy like I had last time, and reached out for Lydia's warm arm. I ran my fingers over her injury, hoping it didn't cause her any pain. It was just a small surface gash, and as I moved my fingers, I could feel the energy reconnecting with her tattered skin, knitting together, peeling off the dead flakes. I kept my eyes closed through the process, focusing on the energy coursing through me and into Lydia- just in case it proved overwhelming.

If Lydia had been suffering a cold or another injury, I was sure that the energy would have begged to heal it, too. If it had, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to stop it, but thankfully she was otherwise in perfect health. As soon as the energy flow was restored in her arm, I pulled away. The moment my fingers left her skin, I felt a cool chill wash over me. Without an outlet for the alien energy still pouring into me, I was sure that it would soon trigger the switch that had been so dangerously flicked last time.

I wanted to stay in that beautiful state for just a moment longer, to venture around, but I knew that was what aided in causing the last overload. I quickly snapped out of the connection, and opened my eyes, finding Lydia smiling proudly.

The wound on her arm was gone. In its place was fresh, pink skin, like a newborn's. There was no trace of the graze, and if I hadn't been the one to heal it, I never would have believed such a feat was posisble.

Lydia let out a long breath. "That went better than I expected. I thought you might at least glow a little like last time."

"You didn't think I could do it? Wait- I glowed last time?" Why hadn't she told me? Considering what Gabby could do, I'd say glowing was a pretty exciting skill to add to my resume.

"No, I really had no idea how your powers would react to my energy. But I had faith in you." She said kindly, perhaps a little breathlessly. 

"And the glowing? Was that just a side effect of my powers?"