Lucius slumped back against the tree, exhausted from just eating. The sensory overload returned immediately, clouding his mind with the sound of birds, screaming, fire roaring, his own heart beating like thunder.
He pressed his palms to his temples, trying to block it all out.
Seraphine watched him for a moment, then made a silent decision.
"There's a technique I know of," she said quietly. "From my time as a priestess. It can help with suppressing the pain."
He turned his head towards her, curiosity flickering through the agony. "Tell me more about it," he managed between chronic coughs that wracked his frame.
Seraphine set down the wooden bowl like item she had been holding and shifted to face him completely. She drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them, her expression softening as she began.
"It's called Divine Resonance," she started, her voice taking on a distant quality.
"An ancient technique passed down through the priesthood. It was used to stabilize those who had been touched by divine energy, blessed warriors recovering from channelling too much power, oracles overwhelmed by prophetic visions, or…" she paused, a faint smile touching her lips.
"....foolish apprentice priestesses who tried to commune with gods before they were ready."
Lucius nodded weakly, signalling her to continue.
"The principle is simple in theory," she went on. "Divine energy is inherently chaotic when concentrated. It needs….harmony, balance."
"This technique creates Resonance between two sources of divinity, allowing them to stabilize each other." Her eyes grew distant, as if replaying a memory.
"I watched the high priestesses perform it dozens of times. There was this one girl, I think her name was Mira. She had attempted a solar blessing ritual during her initiation and nearly burned from the inside out."
A genuine smile crossed Seraphine's face, soft and nostalgic. "The head priestess, Sister Callista, performed the resonance on her. I remember watching them, the way the divine energy flowed between them like golden threads, weaving patterns in the air. Mira's screams faded to whimpers, then to silence. By the end, she was sleeping peacefully." The smile faded slightly.
"Sister Callista was bedridden for three days afterwards, but Mira lived."
Lucius managed a small nod, his breathing laboured but steady as he listened.
"The technique requires direct contact," Seraphine continued, her tone becoming more serious. "Skin to skin over the major channels, the heart, the solar plexus, and the third eye. The performer uses their own divine energy as a…..conduit, I suppose. A filter."
"They draw in the chaotic energy from the afflicted and redistribute it, creating harmony where there was discord."
(Check out the discord group using the link)
She looked down at her hands, turning them over. "I never really performed it myself. I was still a junior priestess when…." Her voice trailed off.
".....when everything fell apart. I only observed and studied the theory."
Lucius watched her face, seeing the weight of the memory there. After a moment, he spoke through another bout of coughing. "Can't you perform the ritual?"
Seraphine met his eyes and nodded slowly. "I believe so. The technique itself isn't complicated. It's the execution that requires skill and…." She hesitated for a bit.
"There are risks involved."
"What kind of risks?"
"A drawback in the technique," she said plainly. "When you stabilize someone else's divine energy, you're essentially taking their chaos into yourself. Your body filters it, disperses it, but there's a cost."
"Such as pain, exhaustion, and in severe cases…" she gestured vaguely. "The performer can suffer the same symptoms they're trying to cure. Burns, if it's solar energy. Frostbite, if its water aspected divinity. Sister Callista once stabilized a lightning blessed warrior and couldn't stop shaking for a week."
Lucius absorbed this, his golden glowing eyes studying her face carefully. Then, despite the pain, despite everything, he asked quietly.
"Not to sound selfish about it, but...can you perform the ritual on me?"
Seraphine's expression didn't change. "That was my intention. Why else would I explain a vital technique to a stranger?"
A weak chuckle escaped him, but it turned into a wince as the sound of his own laughter amplified painfully in his ears. He clutched at his head, the sensory overload spiking.
"Easy," Seraphine said softly, reaching out to steady him. "Don't fight it. The more you resist it, the worse it gets."
He forced himself to breathe steadily, to relax.
"Alright," she said, her voice calm and certain. "Place your head on my lap."
Lucius blinked, and despite the agony he felt, an absurdly dirty thought flickered through his mind. He shook his head quickly, trying to wave it off.
"Alright."
He shifted, awkward and uncertain, until he was lying with his head resting on her thighs. The position was intimate in a way that made his face warm or maybe that was just the fever.
Seraphine's hands moved to cover his eyes gently, her palms cool against his burning skin. "Close your eyes and try to stay calm."
Then her hands moved lower, her fingers finding the buttons of his burnt shirt. She worked them open one by one, revealing his chest.
Lucius felt the fabric pull away, exposing his torso to the cool forest air. He heard her breath catch but remained still.
His body had changed. The absorption had left its mark on him, with a well defined physique that shouldn't belong to someone who had been a wandering soul just weeks ago.
Lean muscle, defined abs, the faint golden glow of divine energy pulsing beneath his skin like living light.
Seraphine stared for a moment longer than necessary, her professional composure slipping at the sight of his open chest. A blush crept across her pale cheeks. Her hands fidgeted, hovering uncertainly above his chest.
'Focus Sera,' she told herself. 'You've seen bodies before. This is just…..another patient that needs your care.'
But her thoughts betrayed her. The way his chest rose and fell. The warmth radiating from him. The vulnerable position he had placed himself in, trusting her completely.
She shook her head sharply, banishing the inappropriate thoughts she had.
'I'm a priestess. I was trained for this….sort of.'
Her hands trembled slightly as she finally placed them against his bare chest, directly over his heart. His skin was hot to touch, almost painfully so. She could feel his heartbeat beneath his chest, beating in strong, rapid, and chaotic beats.
Beneath her palms, golden light pulsed in rhythm with his breathing.
Seraphine closed her eyes, centering herself. She drew in a slow breath through her nose, held it, then released it gradually through her mouth.
She felt for her own corrupted divine energy, the tainted blessing that had once been pure, now twisted by abandonment and grief. It responded sluggishly, almost reluctant to answer, but it was there.
'Come on,' she thought, steadying herself. 'I can do this. How hard could it be?'