Supernatural Investigation 101: Chronicles Of Nakashima Wakana

"Why?" Nishimura Soichiro was standing atop the table and pointing at the girl with a trembling finger. "Why are you here, Medusa?"

"I am not Medusa!" Dierre Virevo yells at him. All the snakes hiss at Nishimura Soichiro at the same time. "Call me Dierre."

Nishimura Soichiro looks at Minami Sei's desk, and then, he glances at other empty desks. Where is everyone? Why is he alone with a monster who can kill people with eyes?"

"Where is Choi Minho?" Dierre voices out Little Maye's question. She scowls at Nishimura Soichiro. "He is supposed to be my mentor."

Nishimura Soichiro trembles in fear. He can't deal with this. There are snakes in the room and those snakes are glaring at him.

All at once.

"Miss Dierre, you have to calm down." He gestures to her to take the furthest seat away from him. "I will contact Choi Minho right away. Don't take off your glasses or come near me."

"As if I want to be closer to a deadly creature like you," grumbles Dierre as she walks to the chair and sits down. Human beings act like she's the scariest creature when they are the one who can kill her easily.

And why do they look at her adorable babies as if they are dangerous? Her snakes are harmless. Completely harmless.

They are a little poisonous, but they are completely harmless. Okay?

Nishimura Soichiro holds the phone. His throat is dry and his clothes are drenched with his sweat. He peers at the girl sitting on the chair. The dark sunglasses are hiding her medusa's eyes, but he can sense the intense rays coming from her. 

Why did this always happen to him? Where is everyone? He needs more people in this place. No matter what, a medusa is just unacceptable.

***

A bead of sweat rolls down her forehead. 

She has no idea why the weather is so warm today. The sun is at its peak and there's no sign of any mist. Standing on the courtyard on her one foot with her other leg in the air, her body is bent down with her arms outstretched in front of her. Her palms are pressed together. She wonders what was the point of this posture. 

It's been an hour or more. Her dark robe is wet with her sweat. She turns her head and peeks at the man who is floating in the air under the shade of the house. Choi Minho has closed. The first three buttons of his shirt are open. His shirt isn't tucked inside his dark pants. His b.a.r.e feet are exposed to her in their glory. 

Seeing him like that, she can't help but admire his beauty. Whether one is married or not, handsome men are handsome. It's not like she can pluck her eyes out if a beautiful thing appears in front of her eyes. Admiring someone's beauty is not wrong. Doesn't she also admire Hano's chattiness or her sisters' beauty sometimes?"

"Ahem!" Choi Minho clears his throat, keeping his eyes closed. "Are you trying to concentrate it on the tip of your fingertips?"

The task is difficult. She has to concentrate her gifts in her hands only. Whether it's empathy or the ability to kill people with a touch, she needs to have tight control over them. Her moods are going to affect her abilities a lot. If she lets it control her, she might lose her sanity like… Wakana bites her lower lip. She can't feel shit. What fingertip? Does she even have any gifts?

She hears him sigh. He descends the ground and walks to her. Wakana knits her brows together, determined to keep the posture as he places his hand on the small of her back and bends down close to her ear. 

"You can direct it with your focus." He tells her slowly, "Concentrate it on the tip of your index finger. If the feelings come, let them come. If the rain falls, let it fall. Let the sound flow through you. You can't stop empathy or close yourself from the outside world. No, you must never ever do it."

But… If she feels like that… His emotions are also flowing through her -- complex and intangible. She can't separate the flavours whether it's sad or not.

Knowing that she can't concentrate, he tells her to stop. She straightens her back and looks at him with a puzzling gaze. 

"Let's talk about empathy first." He takes her inside the house as he continues, "Before an empath, you are a human. You are likely to feel human's emotions more vividly than other creatures. Animals often have simple thoughts and feelings. They are highly guided by their instincts, but those simple feelings could be overpowering… for example, a wolf might feel an intense predatory feeling. What would you do if you come across a wolf?"

"Run as fast as I can?" She replies in a beat. "I won't sit down in front of him for a chat for sure."

"Will you be able to run?" He gives her a look. "At your current state, you will feel the wolf's emotions and become overwhelmed."

Wakana opens her mouth, surprised. She has never thought about it that much. Feeling human emotions is already tiring enough.

"The good news is that…" As much as he knows about his brother, there's a limit to empathy. "You can't feel all creatures' emotions. Your empathy and my mind-reading abilities have similar rangers. I can't hear ghosts' thoughts. But it's strange that I could always read the minds of spirits. When I was in hell, I could read my brother's mind who was neither a ghost nor a spirit. He was a soul who was supposed to be reborn soon."

Wakana sits down on the chair and quietly listens to her mentor who takes a seat opposite her.

"If you are curious, I can't read everyone's mind. There are creatures who can build a barrier around their minds. I am pretty useless then." He paused momentarily. "Then, I gained a few skills after turning into an immortal. One of them is teleportation. Though I can't do magic, I can manipulate the immortal energy with my mental prowess alone."

"Immortal energy?" She curves her brows. "What is that?"

"There are many types of energy in the world," He informs her as his eyes smile at her. She's curious like a child. "Usually, the immortals have to choose which path they want to take. If they choose the dark path, they can become the dark magic cultivator if they don't have a source. In the case of heaven's path, they can cultivate the heavenly energy. It's like a high school student choosing a career. Become a demon or an angel. It's a choice. But there are always exceptions."

"Like you?" She grins at him.

"No." He shakes his head. "I am someone who didn't make a choice. If I had chosen any path, my body would change and I would lose my gifts but I would gain the ability to cultivate. I like myself the way I am. Immortal energy is quite malleable. It conforms itself according to the need. That's why I have been able to access it."