Author's Note: This piece is paired with "The Way You Love Me Is Frightening", and is co-written by LadyRavenEye. Check out my profile for a link to her other works.
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"On the Effects of Unexplained Electromagnetic Discharge on Homo Sapiens."
For long as she can remember, Priyanka has been fascinated with magic.
It was the attraction of the unknown. This powerful force, an accepted presence in the world- yet something utterly unexplained by modern science.
Books always likened magic to lightning strikes. While a quite common, natural occurrence, the chance of experiencing a lightning strike in person is both very rare, and most often, very fatal.
That's why magic is so poorly understood. That's why so many people argue that it never will be. Magic comes in the form of ancient, decaying temples, of floating swatches of land, of mysterious artifacts, of giant monsters. People have tried to study it, and most have died in the attempt.
But the whole analogy irks her. It's not a fair comparison. Lightning has been understood for hundreds of years. It has been studied and harnessed and generated and tamed. And that understanding did not come without danger. Great scientists once stood in storms, holding kites and keys and metal rods, risking electrocution for their passion- surely the scientists of today should be willing to take the same risks?
Perhaps that's hypocritical of her to think. Ultimately, Priyanka didn't pursue theoretical physics, or field research, or any other scientific discipline which would help unlock the secrets of the so-called 'magic'.
But she was just being sensible. If she's always been fascinated by magic, she's also always been fascinated by the human body. And she was good at biology, very good. And being a doctor is a strong, stable career. A practical one, where she can be useful, and help people, and save lives.
(Sometimes she might dream- theorize- about the sheer scale of the technological, life-saving advancements that could be made if only society and academia were to overcome their fear, and finally, finally discover the mechanisms of magic, and feels some wistfulness about it all; but then she comes out of a successful surgery, sees her patient's friends and family crying with sheer joy and relief, and she could not be happier with the path she chose).
Then, one night, she's sitting at a restaurant, waiting to meet some complete strangers, when a literal giant comes walking across the ocean and sits down at their table.
Connie gasps. Doug mumbles something incomprehensible. Even Priyanka herself can't stop an exclamation of sheer surprise.
But she forces that surprise back, the same way she does when she's in the operating room. She shakes Greg Universe's hand. She introduces herself to the massive, multi-armed Alexandrite. She says hello to Connie's new friend, Steven, and pointedly does not ask about how any of this has come about. She is determined to take all this magic in stride.
Besides. There's such a thing as common courtesy.
Most of what humanity knows- or presumes they know- about magic comes from legends. Fairy tales. Myths. The inherent fallibility of it all used to irritate Priyanka to no end. Throughout that dinner, however, she's thankful of those old stories, and remembers everything they ever said on the subject.
The so-called 'magical' beings have had many, many names over the millennia. They've been called ghosts, and fey, and demons, and even gods, but no matter what their names, there are always recurring motifs. They are fierce. They are warriors. They value strength above all else, and they abhor weakness.
Priyanka refuses to be weak. She stands tall, and stands strong, and stands up for her daughter's safety and well-being.
Alexandrite- or the three people who make Alexandrite up- seem to respect that. And to her own surprise, Priyanka finds that she rather respects them too.
She lets Connie remain friends with this Steven Universe boy. Other parents would not, she knows. Magic is too mysterious, too unknown, to allow a child to have any interaction with it. But she's not going to reject three clearly capable guardians just because of some old fear-filled fairy tales.
It's the same logic she relies on when the ambulance carries in a pair of mutated, mutilated bodies on stretchers.
The official explanation is that they are car crash victims. Strangely, very few of her colleagues are willing to tend to their newest patients. So Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran comes in to do the job instead, no matter what family crises she might be dealing with at home, no matter if it's late and she's worked the night shift three times already that week.
It takes her only one look to realize they are not car crash victims.
Maybe they were found by the side of the road. Maybe they even were hit by a car. But there's no blood, no open wounds. It's impossible to discern if there's even any bruising on their strangely coloured skin. There's just… limbs. So many flailing limbs, and a constant wheezing, despite there not even being a mouth.
Magic. That can be the only explanation.
The other doctors must have come to the same conclusion, of course. That had been enough to scare them off. That infuriates her. They are doctors. They swore an oath! They are duty-bound to try and help, no matter what their own fears and superstitions may be.
So that's what Dr. Maheswaran intends to do. Magic or not, she is going to treat this patient like any other. She will find a way to help them.
She starts by trying to check the vitals.
There is no heartbeat.
But there has to be a heart beat. Magic or not. Because the human body follows rules, and the human body needs oxygenated blood to survive, and this body is moving and breathing, therefore it is alive, therefore it must have a heart beat, therefore she simply needs a better stethoscope.
Things… escalate, from that point. There are monsters and screaming, and she does her best to remain strong, no matter her own fear.
It is only after she sees her little Connie wrench a giant sword from her hands, and use it to slice the two patients into clouds of smoke that Priyanka realizes how deeply in denial she is. And not just about the patients.
She does her best to listen, and to understand. And Connie promises to tell the truth.
She offers Steven Universe a drive home. He politely declines. Then he hops on the back of his pink lion, which runs off, the two of them disappearing into a portal of light conjured by the creature's roar.
Priyanka tries not to stare. She just looks at her daughter and says, "Time to go home."
They don't talk on the drive back. They both go to bed immediately when they arrive back at the house. It's late, and Connie has school in the morning.
Priyanka, on the other hand, calls off sick the next day, and it is so unprecedented that no one questions her.
(Besides, she has no idea how she's going to fill out the paper-work explaining why two of her patients have mysteriously vanished.)
Instead, she drives out to Beach City.
She's not entirely sure what she's intending to do. For the first time in years, she has no real plan.
Perhaps, at the back of her mind, what she always meant to do was to find where Steven Universe lived, to confront his guardians, the three magical ladies who could fuse into a single being. Get the story straight from their mouths. Three-quarters into the drive she realizes that she has no idea where the boy's house actually is. She could probably find it, if she really put her mind to the task; by using Google Maps, or talking to a couple of the locals.
She does neither of this things. Instead she finds herself tracking down the local car wash, run by one Mr. Greg Universe.
He's sitting outside, by his van. He's not alone, but with a teenager. The two of them are strumming guitars, Greg occasionally pausing to adjust the teenager's hand-positioning or technique. It's a lesson, Priyanka realizes. She did not know the man was a teacher.
Mr. Universe looks up when he sees the car drive in, and stands, apparently to go get the car wash running. Priyanka brakes, and rolls down the window.
"Oh!" he says, when he recognizes her. "Dr. Maheswaran! I wasn't expecting you. You dropping Connie off or something?"
"No," she tells him. "Connie's not here. But I do want to talk to you about her. And about Steven. And the," she hesitates, "Gems."
A strange expression flashes across his face. It's surprisingly difficult to read. But he simply says, "Okay.
"Just. Let me tie up this lesson first," he says, gesturing over to the teenager, who's still sitting in his chair, strumming the guitar absently while watching the two adults through his dark sunglasses.
"No, of course I'll let you finish," Priyanka says. She doesn't want to interrupt anybody's education. And besides, it will give her time to think of what to say.