Ocular Abilities

In the past, I learned everything from my parents. My intuition when it came to healing wounds, patching up scratches, and fixing broken bones came naturally, but my morals came from them.

Nobody is immune to cuts and bruises. No matter the strands they wield. No matter the protection they have. When the world falls apart, all we'll have is doctors. Mom, Dad, and me.

I was taught a ton of rules when I became a doctor underneath them.

The most important thing was to never give up on any patient, no matter how certain their death was. If a pole was shoved through their brain, and they weren't responsive, I don't give up until they let go of their last breath.

No matter if they were an enemy or an ally, they deserve care. They deserve my attention.

I remember their words as if it happened yesterday.

They told me that I should care about everybody's issues, whether miniscule or massive. All people, regardless of what ails them, are still people.

When that man, Sky Asterio, entered the city, I could see it over his body. Even if the scars weren't visible, he had plenty of wounds that stood out to me. It's weird, it's like I have an affinity to know about past wounds in people. Coming from somebody like me, observing somebody like an Asterio, I was astonished at how well they stuck out.

My Mom told of a past, about a set of Ocular Abilities that were passed down between ancestors that survived the 2020 Apocalypse.

They skipped my parents and grandparents, but my great-grandma had an Ocular Ability so intense that she was observed to be one of the most prevalent doctors on the entire planet. With an ability she dubbed "Nature's Gift".

It was a wild story she put a twist on to teach a great lesson, but Nonna, my great-grandma, explained that it was a gift to her because her calling was something she was passionate about. She obtained the Ocular Ability overnight and decided to become a doctor soon after.

This Eye was sought after by everybody, and soon, Nonna became a doctor people traveled across the world to see. I saw it as a blessing to be loved by all... but it was a curse in disguise. When you're hailed like she was, it's a lot easier to disappoint, because we are both still human.

Nature's Gift is a passive ability that I can't turn off; because of this, I refer to it as a curse. I never stop being a doctor. Even if you love your profession, you can still get exhausted from it.

I'm constantly stuck looking at all injuries. When I was analyzing Lia's behavior when she explained her past with Sky Asterio, I studied her wounds.

They littered her body, I could see every single one. I asked every question I needed too, and she involuntarily lights up in colorful scars that tell me of her past.

When I talked to Sky during the meeting to discuss our attack plan on Quake, his body began to light up... brighter than I've ever seen before.

He walks around like a lightbulb, with wounds all over his body. I only caught him without his shirt once, and something terrifying popped up on his back.

It wasn't a scar, it wasn't a wound, but rather, a letter.

"A"

For what I assume to be 'Asterio'.

I thought it to be a weird coincidence. Maybe he was cut in that way, but when I asked him, he wasn't sure. He couldn't answer. Maybe it was just a chance thing then, maybe it was the eye messing up.

Until I took a look at myself in the mirror.

I lifted my shirt up, to reveal the same letter last night.

"A"

There was an A on my back. I gasped in fear that night, not knowing what to do with this information. I wasn't confident in my last name, as it was forged and changed throughout the years, but my Nonna, through and through, was an Asterio Descendant.

If I follow down the years, she was 118 when she died. She died four years ago, so she had to be born in 2324. If I skip the math and divide that missing time by a few other confusing numbers, I seem to be the Seventh Generation of Asterio, maybe even Eight.

This didn't make sense. I knew about the legends, how the first Asterio was once Sky Asterio, but that would have to make me his kid. That was anatomically impossible, as our ages are too close to being the same thing. My running theory is that I must've been a descendant of his sister, or possibly even brother if he had one. I can't be related to him if we're that far apart.

That seems to be my curse. I wondered why I had this Ocular Ability, but out of everything I've observed, all documents pulling in the generations of every patient I've ever taken care of, I've noticed one thing.

Fudo has it, Alatus has it... a member of Asterio lineage in their bloodline.

Their Ocular Abilities, every other patient with Asterio lineage in their bloodline possesses a history of Ocular Abilities.

That is the key to it all. The Asterio lineage leaking into the rest of the world is changing everything, and it wasn't noticed for the longest time... until Nonna and I awakened Nature's Gift.

So when I think of my curse, and the Asterio lineage in my blood, it makes me think I should never give up.

"So, can you help my friend?" The man in front of me asked.

"You still have hope...? His chest is caved in... he's barely hanging on," I muttered to him.

"I know... I know it's hopeless, but I can't just give up on him, he wouldn't give up on me... please... help him..." He asked me.

I used Nature's Gift to observe his body. Everything was crushed and ruined, I could see it through his torn-apart body.

"I will try... but start saying your condolences. I don't think I can save him," I told the man.