Patchouli was outright elated, though it didn't show on her face, as she went through the new book she had just acquired.
A detailed glossary about the many demons and magicians that could be found in Makai. A wonderful piece of literature that Alice had owned… that had then been taken by a certain thieving rat… that had then been retrieved by Patchouli herself after getting a rare win in Danmaku. She was going to return it of course, it was someone else's property after all, but it wasn't like it had to be returned that very instant. Literature written about Makai or even from Makai was just so incredibly rare that Patchouli wondered how her fellow Witch had acquired it in the first place.
"Legs straight! Eyes forward!" Remy shouted.
"Why are you having these lessons in my library again?" Patchouli asked, her good mood ruined as her reading was so rudely interrupted by her friend who was busy lecturing Lysithea about high class etiquette.
Despite appearances and how she usually acted, Remy could act like a proper high class Victorian noble if she had wanted to, she simply didn't most of the time. She was the one that taught Sakuya noble etiquette in the head maid's youth and was probably the best suited in the Mansion to teach Lysithea.
Though why Lysithea felt a need to learn it and request Remy for aid, Patchouli simply didn't know. Honestly the Witch felt like it was a big waste, but Remy had someone taken to the girl these last few days and it was too much trouble to get in her way.
"Now remember," Remy commanded as she watched Lysithea take a few tentative steps. "A lady must be composed, elegant. She must command the room all without saying a single word, turn everyone around her into an audience, and captivate them with her very presence."
"O-okay," Lysithea said as briefly wobbled but otherwise kept the book in place.
"You're nothing close to being a proper ruler though," Remy said as she walked and stacked another book on top of Lysithea's head. "We'll have to settle with the basics. At the very least you should be able to enter a ballroom without embarrassing yourself among the rabble."
"An earnest but petite lady has its own charms though," Kaokuma decided to comment. "Some people are into that type. Tease them, lure them in with a façade of innocence, and let them draw closer to you. Then when the time comes," the Demon slapped her hands. "Close the trap and claim him as your own. Let them ravish you as you would them."
Patchouli hit her familiar atop the head with a book. "Stop teaching my student how to seduce people. She's seven."
"I'm going to be eight soon… I think," Lysithea replied.
"It's just a little something innocent for the young boys or girls that catches her fancy," Kaokuma argued. "I'm sure there's someone in the village she co- OUCH. Fine I get it."
With her familiar silenced, Patchouli returned to her books. Though she couldn't help but glance at her student once in a while. The same effort that Lysithea put into her magic was being put into these lessons, though not without the same aptitude or enthusiasm. Just because the child thought that this was a necessity, didn't mean she enjoyed it as much as proper magical research.
Lysithea stumbled and fell again. A common occurrence considering the moves that Remy was having her do, though this time she was having trouble picking herself up. Concerned, Patchouli put down her book and walked to Lysithea as she was being helped to a chair by Sakuya.
"Are you okay?" The Witch asked. She had forgotten how fragile humans could be, at least in comparison to most other Youkai she dealt with.
"I'm fine. I just got… really dizzy all of sudden," Lysithea replied.
"Hypotension? Asthma? Anemia? Vitamin A deficiency?" Patchouli began to list off several possibilities.
"Patchy you're projecting," Remilia quickly took control of the situation. "And did you ever get a doctor to see her?"
"I was planning to, but she seemed fine so…" Patchouli honestly didn't make it a priority since the child has seemed healthy before. She had been more interested in reading or teaching the girl magic.
"Sakuya," Remy commanded the head maid. "Have a Hobgoblin send a letter to Eintei."
A good choice, better a Hobgoblin than a fairy for this task. Yes, the Hobgoblin would likely scare or disgust any travelers it might run into on the way there, but it was better than leaving the task to the forgetful and short-minded fairies. It was honestly a miracle that Sakuya was able to get the fairy maids to do what work they currently did, and it wasn't even that much.
"Understood milady. Is there anything else you want me to send?" Sakuya asked.
"… Add in a package of medicinal herbs from the gardens," Patchouli added. A little incentive to expedite the process.
"What's happening Sensei?" Lysithea asked.
"We're just going to have you visit a doctor tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be fine."
Patchouli sat in the waiting room Eintei's clinic and tried to ignore the nervous looks the other humans were giving her and her familiar. She also tried to ignore the abashed and blushing faces on the men, and some of the women, as Kaokuma continued to seduce them from across the room.
Interesting thing about Succubi and Incubi. They didn't target gender but rather sexuality. So if you were a woman and a Succubus decided to flirt or sexually harass you then on some level you were either gay, bi, or somewhere in the closet. Same thing applied for Incubi and men.
"It's been a while since we had someone else join us," Kaokuma suddenly began to whisper in the Witch's ear.
"Not the time," Patchouli replied nonchalantly, having long gotten used to her familiar's advances.
"Just wanted to find a way for you to unwind. You've been so busy since you picked up Lysithea as a student."
Patchouli sighed. Despite how Kaokuma might act, she did have her master's wellbeing in mind. Or at least that was what the Witch believed. Never could be completely sure with Devils. "We'll figure something out after this."
"Yay!"
Eventually after what seemed like an eternity, which was an impressive feat considering she was an ageless Witch, Lysithea returned with a lollipop in her mouth and a skip to her step.
"Everything went okay?" Patchouli asked.
Lysithea nodded her head vigorously before taking the lollipop out of her mouth. "Dr. Yagokoro was really nice. And the candy she gave me is so good."
"That's good," Patchouli replied as she eyed the doctor gesturing to her to come into her office. "I'll be back in a moment. Please keep an eye on Lysithea, Kao."
"Understood," Kaokuma gave a quick salute before taking out a book for her and Lysithea to work over. That was another thing about Patchouli's familiar, she was surprisingly good with kids outside the occasional raunchy comment that usually went over their heads.
Patchouli made her way past the reception desk, through two doors, and then a hallway before she finally arrived in a brightly lit office with the Doctor already waiting within.
"The girl has Divine Dragon blood," Eiren stated plainly as Patchouli took a seat.
"I'm well aware," Patchouli replied. "I'm assuming as a doctor you'll be able to keep this confidential."
"Apart from the Princess, yes."
Patchouli narrowed her eyes. "Isn't that a breach of Doctor-Patient Confidentiality?"
"Not like I follow that or the Hippocratic Oath either," Eirin replied casually.
"Hardly professional. Is it?" Patchouli asked.
"I only opened this clinic to the public recently because the Princess demanded it. Otherwise, I can assure you that my skills as a physician are second to none."
Patchouli sighed. This is what she got for trusting those Lunarians that caused a recent incident involving a fake moon. She'd have to ask Alice for more details about it later. Remy might've also had a hand in the incident's resolution, but she had a tendency to embellish certain events and Sakuya would just agree with anything her Master said. "Just as long as this stays with your Princess. I can't have everyone in Gensokyo clamoring to get a sample of my pupil's blood."
"I might take a few samples as well. With your permission of course."
"Only if you'll continue working as the child's personal physician. I might also have additional requests for you in the future."
"Deal."
"So tell me," Patchouli returned to the original topic. "What is Lysithea's condition?"
Eirin rolled her chair and pulled down a white screen from the wall. She then switched on a Projection which revealed an X-ray of the girl's body. "Tell me, what do you see here?"
"Bones, internal organs." Patchouli replied plainly. "I don't need a lesson on human anatomy."
"Just tell me what's strange here."
Patchouli took a closer look at the diagram and finally noticed the patches of black all around it, most notably in the areas where the heart was located. "Those idiots really were just brute forcing their experiments. They expected results with this?"
"I agree. No number of enhancements or implants would ever justify these results if done properly. The worst part is here." Eirin put on another slide which showed the spiritual elements of Lysithea's body.
The Witch's eyes became progressively wider as she examined the diagram until they were the size of saucers. "Her flow of her spirit is-"
"Cracked, severed in some places, and completely out of control. That's the state the experiments left her in. The blood she's been injected with is putting further physical strain on her body and causing a complete imbalance of Yang. I had to inject her with a diluted Lunar serum of activated charcoal and bits of ground moon dust just to get her body back in balance, this was what was causing her previous weakness by the way."
"How is Lysithea even conscious?" Patchouli asked. "How is this child even alive?"
"Humans, weak as they are physically, can be surprisingly adaptable," Eirin informed her. "In order to survive the experiments her body learned to adjust, but the damage is still there."
"I hardly noticed anything wrong with the way she acted. She seemed like any child, if perhaps a bit too impatient for my liking."
"A testament to her strength. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. Any normal child would have collapsed by now."
"Still," Patchouli shook her head. "This can't be sustainable. There's no way her body can handle the strain for long."
"A decade, maybe two at most if she continues to visit me often," Eirin informed her.
So the child might live up to young adulthood at most. What a waste of a perfectly good student.
"And there's no way to treat her condition?" Patchouli asked.
"I can treat the symptoms, continue adjusting for the imbalance in Yang energies her body is creating, but nothing that can deal with the root cause. Not while she's human at the very least."
"Then turn her into a Youkai," Patchouli replied quickly. "She's technically still an outsider, the shrine maiden would have no obligation to exterminate her should she turn."
"Her body is in a fragile state as it is, spiritually and physically. Most forms of Youkai transformation, she would have difficulty surviving or retaining her sanity. And there's no telling how it might conflict with Divine Dragon blood. The only feasible and available transformation I can think of-"
"Is that of a Magician," Patchouli finished, to her dismay. "I can't just make her a Magician. She wasn't born as one and trying to become one requires a high level of mastery and a deep knowledge of magic. You need to know the rituals completely just as you do your own mana and soul to even have a chance of pulling it off successfully. That requires a vast amount of time and study along with a passion and obsession nearing insanity."
"And others succeeded. And haven't advances in magic made it easier to achieve this? Especially since she has such a wonderful Sensei?"
"You are right to say that advances in Magical Knowledge have made the transition easier to a respect, but even then it would take three to four decades considering her current level, if I'm being generous."
"And in your case?"
"I was born as one." Patchouli replied. She also looked very young because she adjusted her body's appearance to her current state for one reason or another and never really had a need or desire to change it back. "I dedicated myself to the pursuit of magic since I could start reading, essentially raised to become a Witch, and borrowed from countless resources that have since been lost as the Outside World modernized."
It was a regret of hers that she couldn't save every one of those books before and during her transition to Gensokyo. So much literature and knowledge lost. Witches of other realms or worlds might still have copies, but they guarded their knowledge tightly- even more than she did- and would be even more unwilling to offer it should they learn that it would going toward the education of a lowly human and not someone who had the fortune of simply being born a Witch.
"I spent the entirety of my conscious life past infanthood in pursuit of knowledge and even I had difficulties understanding the steps needed to turn a human into a Witch until I was an adult. Additionally, most magic users that even attempt the transition either give up or fail. Lysithea might have an aptitude for magic, but it is still too early to guarantee that she has the capability to become a proper Witch with a full human lifespan much less her diminished one."
"She should still be informed that that's an option available for her."
"It is not something that I should even bring until she hits a level that I could deem adequate. Realistically speaking, her odds simply aren't good. Even with my mentoring."
"Strife, I find is the best way to bring out the potential of both student and master. This might be a chance to improve yourself even further."
"Is that why you go out of your way to torture that rabbit of yours?" Patchouli asked.
Eirin simply smiled and nodded.
"Well, I hope I don't have to delve into such sadistic pleasures like you." Patchouli looked at the direction of where the waiting room would be. "I believe it's time I had a discussion with my pupil."
During the flight back to the mansion, with Lysithea piggy backing off of Kaokuma, Patchouli had begun to carefully plan out everything that she was going to tell her pupil in regard to her condition. By the time they had arrived back in the library and taken a seat, the Witch was fully prepared to let the girl know everything Eirin had reported to her.
Patchouli had expected and prepared herself for plenty of frantic crying and unrestrained anger from her pupil. It was what children did when given terrible news. Silence on the other hand, just absolute silence from Lysithea as Patchouli continued to explain, was something the Witch never quite expected from the child. And it continued, until the entirety of Eirin and Patchouli's own report, until the Witch no longer had anything left to say.
A brief moment passed before Lysithea finally reacted. Rather than say anything though, she grabbed one of her notebooks, a quill, and got herself ready to take another set of notes. "Can we start the next lecture now?"
Patchouli, unprepared for this situation, simply defaulted to what was comfortable for her and resumed the previous day's lecture. It wasn't until an hour in, and some concerned looks from Kaokuma, did Patchouli decide to address the issue.
"Your lifespan has been greatly shortened. You'll only have a decade or two at most," Patchouli told the girl once more.
"I-I know," Lysithea's voice cracked, but she still continued to write into her notebook.
"It's been a long day. We don't have to continue this lecture," Patchouli suggested.
"It's f-fine. There's a lot I have to do," Lysithea replied. "I-I can't slow down now. If I can't do anything with the little time that I have left…"
For once, Patchouli had no words to draw from. No lectures that could help.
Patchouli slowly and awkwardly reached forward with her hand. She was terrible with comforting people even more so in spontaneous situations like this. Eventually she just bit the bullet and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder.
The Witch was caught wholly unprepared when her pupil suddenly flung herself forward and wrapped her arms around Patchouli's waist. It wasn't entirely unpleasant though and the child needed this, so Patchouli was content to let things be. Even as her dress became soaked in the child's tears.
"Why? Why did they do this to me?" The girl cried; her voice muffled by the cloth of Patchouli's dress.
"They were fools whose methods were born out of incompetence. Short sighted fools who didn't see the value or potential in what they had… but in the end they were just slaves to their own instincts and desires. We all are to a degree. Sometimes to the point that we don't care about what we destroy or those we hurt, just so long as we're satisfied."
Patchouli herself was a Witch that lived in the same Mansion as the Scarlet Devil and though they had become somewhat restrained in the years they lived in Gensokyo, it didn't change the things they did in the past. The things that the Witch had done for the sake of magic and her own survival.
Thus, she could judge the men for their incompetence and their lack of ability, but she couldn't judge them for the people they killed or they pain they caused. She and Remy likely had much more blood on their hands. And though she deemed it a necessity at the time, it could just as easily be the same for those mages for as much as she knew about them.
So no, there was no moral high ground that Patchouli could stand on. No grand cause or justice that she could take up. No, that rage simmering underneath her taciturn demeanor, the source of it was entirely personal. And it was always a bad idea to draw the ire of a Witch.
"It's fine for you to cry now," Patchouli comforted the child as the tears finally began to slow. It was at that moment that she finally decided to bite the bullet. It was completely and utterly illogical and was likely just a false hope she was giving her, but for some reason it felt right. "But after this, what do you want to do? Will you choose to hide away, live away the remainder of your life forgotten as your world decided? Or will you rebel? Will you choose to lash out against what was decided for you and make the world and anyone else who had ever wrong you pay? That is what a proper Witch would do."
Lysithea looked at her. Even past the tear worn eyes Patchouli could see the glimmer that compelled her to make this child her student in the first place. "I want to become a Witch. And I want to make them pay."
Patchouli smiled as she rubbed Lysithea's head. "Then we have a lot of work to do."
A/N
Had to make some slight edits. According to canon Patchouli was born as a Witch so I had to fix some lines and dialogue to correct that.
