"Juri, she's a fool. She doesn't understand that miracles are built upon the sacrifices of others. And yet miracles only come to people like her! Don't you find that unfair, Juri?!"
Elegant, slim black shoes kick up dust. Bordered by trees that looked like skeletal hands, it seems fitting that this path is one of the few in Ohtori that isn't paved. It's so close to the woods, so close to the place where a handful of reckless children, desperate for the impossible, clashed in futility again and again. It is ancient, sacred ground, like the forest itself; covering it with manmade, artificial materials would have verged on blasphemy.
She muses over the nagging thought that this path was far too worn, for being such an out-of-the-way, seldom-used road. It had probably been used prior to this, she guesses, by the seitokai treasurer that had served before her, and the treasurer before that one, and before that, and before that, an infinite ladder of spiderwebs that ended on this footpath and began in the rijichou's palm.
She tries to imagine them all, a ghostly procession of students long passed on, surrounding her in silence and invisibilty. Had they all been freed in the same manner, she wondered? How long had it taken each of them to realize the nature of miraculous occurances?
She had always been good at the sciences. She had learned the science of miracles too late, but now that she knew it, she knew it completely. There were only three basic principles, after all; what she had once thought of as intangible and infinitely complex was exposed as a simple law.
Once upon a time, she would have thought she was above the actions she needed to take in order to create a miracle. Being ignorant of the governing principle, she actually completed these actions without knowing it. She is not to blame, and yet she can't shake the feeling that she is. Perhaps she falls somewhere in between; is there a middle ground between Innocent and Murderer?
She hears footsteps from behind her: Subject A, joining her, like it was in the old days. Unlike in the old days, however, her attention doesn't focus on Subject A. Instead, it turns to Subject C. Some might think it silly to talk to the dead, but Juri--or is it Subject B?--knows better. After all, energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is merely converted to a different form.
Are you well? The next time we meet, there's something I'm going to want to ask you. What did you hope to gain by pursuing the power to grant miracles? And who did you hope to help by getting it? Whatever your hopes, I pray that they come true.
--
Appendix: THE LAW OF MIRACLES
THE THREE PRINCIPLES
Sacrifice: to obtain a miracle, one must stand upon another's sacrifice.
Ignorance: to stand upon it, the user must not know that the sacrifice has been made.
Randomness: following this process, a random miracle is obtained. Often, what is obtained is not what was expected. In short, one cannot choose their miracle.
EXAMPLES OF THE LAW IN ACTION
Example 1 (the utilization of the Law of Miracles between two subjects): Subject A sets out to hurt Subject B. Subject B responds by being hurt, but instead of responding in kind, Subject B isolates itself from Subject A. Subject B cannot thrive without Subject A, and Subject A, unaware of this fact, receives a miracle.
Example 2 (the utilization of the Law of Miracles between three subjects): Subject B, after making the sacrifice, attempts to create their own miracle, while ignorant of the Law that governs the process. Subject C, aware of the Law, enters the equation and makes a sacrifice. Uknowingly, Subject B uses this to create her miracle.
