On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Eighty-One

Opening my eyes I bit down on a pained moan, fresh torment all over my battered body. I guess pain is a good sign, at least it means I’m still alive. How... how is Shaeula? As I looked at her, pushed close against me in the tiny toilet cubicle, she let out a long breath and opened her eyes. Seeing me looking down at her she forced a smile, heedless of the blood that was staining her mouth.

“So, you are not dead than, Akio. I am pleased to see it-it.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure yet.” I was engulfed in throbbing waves of pain. That was by far the worst I’d ever felt, even worse than when I had been mauled by the dog, saving Eri and Aiko. Looking down at the ground I could see it was puddled with blood, and my trousers were also soaked through, as was my t-shirt.

Ugh, so much blood. No wonder I’m feeling light-headed. This doll had better be worth it, because there are certainly easier ways to grind a few levels. Coughing, tasting iron in my mouth, I looked down at the doll. It wasn’t moving, but one thing I noticed was the eyes were no longer dark, they were now a bright red, matching the spirit that was trapped in the Boundary.

“So, did we… free it?” I asked, and Shaeula nodded, wincing in pain as she did so.

“I believe so-so. Though it seems to be dormant, lying silent within this doll shell. Perhaps it will awaken in time-time, or perhaps it will sleep forever. It will be at peace, regardless.”

“I suppose being… ouch…” I groaned, my leg buckling under me. I could still feel wetness running down my thigh. This is bad. “… the same type of being, you wouldn’t want to leave it to suffer. That’s very kind of you, but I don’t want you putting yourself at risk again.”

“All life carries risk. I will always take the path I believe in-in, no matter what.” She retorted. Sniffing, her nose wrinkled at the reek in the air. “But for now, we must tend-tend to our injuries. Recriminations and retrospectives can wait until later.”

Listening out I couldn’t hear anyone else using the male toilets, so I opened the door gingerly, staggering out, supported by Shaeula, who was unsteady herself. Once outside I looked at us in the light of day and was horrified. We looked like victims of a slasher, covered in blood-soaked clothes. Unsteadily lurching behind some large bins left out by one of the stores backing onto the alleyway I slumped to the floor, air stinging my many burns and abrasions. Shaeula crouched down beside me, using a little wind to slice open the leg of my trousers, to reveal a brutal wound.

My thigh had been laid bare to the bone and had bled copiously, the tissue inflamed. Still, it had missed the major arteries, preventing me from bleeding out. Bruises were winding across the rest of my leg, along with burns, though they were superficial, more painful than life-threatening.

“This-this will not do.” Shaeula muttered, stripping off my sodden t-shirt. As she did so I shivered, cold air hitting my ravaged skin. Her touch was light and tender, feeling around my ribs where I had been punctured.

“I think-think you are fortunate. The blow has struck bone rather than penetrating your innards.” She let out more wind, soothing my sweating brow. “Your body is strong, you will heal. However…”

However? As Shaeula tossed my shirt aside, my phone rang.

Oh yeah… the girls. Taking out my phone I saw we had been away from them for nearly half an hour, and I had missed several calls and messages. Yeah, now I’m screwed. Explaining this is… well, impossible.

“Hi sis. What’s up?” I said as I took the call, trying to sound as bright as possible.

“What do you mean, what’s up? Wow, are you trying to be a jerk, big bro moonstone? You ditched us and went off with Shaeula, making Eri very jeal…ouch, I mean very sad. Wow, don’t hit me…” her voice went muffled for a few seconds before she resumed. “Anyways, wow, yeah… where the hell did you two get to bro? We have lots to pay for here, and we are just left hanging. So not cool, bro!”

“Sorry about that. Shaeula remembered there was something she just had to buy, so we went to get it, but then some stuff happened and…”

“Stuff, what stuff?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later.” Thinking quickly I looked for a way out of this mess, my thoughts sluggish from blood loss and pain.

“So, when are you getting back bro?” My sister inquired insistently.

“Uhh, soon, definitely soon. Well, I bet there were some outfits you girls liked but decided against to buy other ones, right? Why don’t you each pick out one or two of those and add them to the pile. If you give them to the cashier and tell her I’ll be along to buy them shortly you guys can go and relax in the café on the top floor and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

I heard some muffled voices on the other end of the call. “Ugh, greedy … the two idiots with us ask if you mean them, too?”

“Sure, why not. They are your friends after all, they’ve kept you company while I’ve been busy.”

“Friends huh. Yeah whatevs, my bro says yes, you too, so be grateful, okay?” she was talking to Yae-san and Rika-san and I could hear their cries of joy.

“Anyway, I’m hanging up now… oh wait, Eri-chan wants a word.”

On taking the phone there was a bit of a pause, before she spoke. “Everything is all right, isn’t it Akio? I have a bad feeling… you aren’t in trouble are you? Or… doing anything you shouldn’t?”

For some reason I’m starting to feel guilty, even though I’ve done nothing wrong, other than huddle against Shaeula, and that wasn’t my fault, really… “Don’t worry.” I kept my tone light. “You’ll be surprised when you see what Shaeula bought. We just took a while… coming to an arrangement on price. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes, please come back soon. I love you.” Eri whispered, before hanging up.

Shaeula was laughing at me. “How can you still manage to blush despite having lost so much blood-blood. I love you!” she mimicked, enjoying my discomfort.

“Don’t ask me.. and she caught me by surprise there, all right. Who knew she was such a bold girl. Anyway, are… are you all right?” Now she had assessed my wounds she was leaning against the bins, looking exhausted.

“I will survive-survive. I was not pierced, my wyrmscale mail blocked the worst of it. This Material body only suffers but a portion of my true wounds-wounds. But…” she looked down sadly at the hem of her dress, which was stained with blood. “I did like this dress. I am saddened to see it ruined. But it will serve us well-well.”

With that she pulled her dress off in front of me before I could look away, and I caught sight of her milky skin, marred by some pretty nasty bruises. Feeling my gaze she snickered again, before suddenly being robed in her usual yukata with the weasel patterns. Tearing her dress apart she used the strips of fabric to tie around my wounded leg and bandage the stab-wound in my chest. I shivered both at the pain and her gentle touch, admiring the light in her eyes.

“That’s bad for my heart.” I complained. “Show more modesty. And we can get you another dress, we know what store sells it.”

“I know-know you enjoyed it.” She said. “Though perhaps you feel bad for Eri, no-no? Fear not, she and I will come to a suitable arrangement in due time. But what shall we do about you? I have not seen people in such a state walking about the Mortal world. It would draw attention, I fear-fear.” 

“I remember there was a vending machine on the corner. Here.” I handed her some money. “Go get as many bottles of water as you can.”

Shaeula hurried off and came back quickly, her arms brimming with bottles. We used them to wash the blood off me and to clean my trousers and t-shirt as best I could. Pulling on my damp and stained shirt I looked a real mess. Still, it was much better than before. Gritting my teeth I followed Shaeula back to the store, getting incredulous looks from various passers-by.

Crap. If I was on my own I’d probably be detained by the police. At least with Shaeula there this looks… well, different. I was in a bloodstained t-shirt and ripped trousers, with my hands looking rather injured. Shaeula was as adorable as ever, but even she was walking rather stiffly, putting on a brave face. The large doll she was carrying made the whole thing even more surreal. Once in the store an assistant came over, and I could see store security waiting behind them, ready to pounce.

“Can… can I help you?” the assistant stammered. “If you need medical attention…”

“Sorry about this.” I smiled. Pulling out my bank card I waved it. “I need some new clothes urgently, I just had an unfortunate accident. I then have to pay for the clothes my friends put aside upstairs. I appreciate your concern though.” I exerted all my Majesty, willing everyone to believe me and let it go.

“Accident?” the man was incredulous, but being Japanese was too polite to argue. In fact I’m lucky this is in Japan. If we were back in Britain everyone would be filming me and taking pictures. Thank god for Japanese reserve and politeness.

“Indeed-indeed.” Shaeula smiled, her visage captivating the eyes of everyone around us. “It would be an incredible tale to tell, but perhaps now is not-not the time?”

“Oh, yes, this way.” Professionalism won out over surrealism and with that I quickly bought new jeans, a long-sleeved high-neck shirt and some gloves, putting them on. After paying at the checkout I went upstairs and also paid for the very large collection of clothes the four girls had purchased. Holy hell, with this and the doll, I need to win some more cash before the trip next week. Well, honestly I had enough for my goals, but even so, spending so much in one day hurt…

“We must remain calm-calm here.” Shaeula said as we took the lift to the café on the top floor. “You do not want to alarm them unnecessarily.”

“Yeah, well, not sure how well we’ll manage to pull that off.” I moaned. Fortunately I didn’t have to carry all of the bags of clothes as the store clerk had them taken downstairs for us to collect when we were leaving.

Stepping into the café I saw the four girls at a table, enjoying crepes and parfait. Eri was the first to see us, and she waved brightly, her face lighting up, only to cock her head and adopt a look of puzzlement. At her gaze the other girls looked over, to mixed reactions.

“Wow, what the hell bro, you’ve changed clothes? I mean, they look good, but… why? Suspicious if you ask me.”

“Yeah, he vanishes with Shaeula, then comes back with new clothes… huh, Shaeula’s changed as well. That’s one cute yukata though, so adorbs. Still…” Rika-san said, eyeing us. “…and what the hell is with that huge doll?”

“Smells like cheating to me. Why else would they have changed their clothes?” Yae-san pouted, standing up to hug Eri, who dodged her with a glower. “Oh come on Ri-Ri, we need to commiserate each other. Aki has been sneaking off to cheat on us.”

“Us, there isn’t an us. Akio is my boyfriend!” Eri fended her off.

“Wow, enough messing around.” My sister complained. She too stood, hand on her hips, glaring at me. “So come on, fess up big bro moonstone, what is going on?”

Man she looks pissed. Makes sense, I don’t really know how I can explain this. Hell, it might even be easier to pretend I was cheating…

“There is no need to make a scene-scene.” Shaeula said primly, though I could see her arms tremble under the weight of the doll. She must still be in pain. “I simply had to buy this doll, it was a fated purchase, one might say-say.” At those words my sister and Eri looked at each other for a moment, before turning back to Shaeula. Their gazes locked and Shaeula nodded slightly.

With a sigh my sister sat back down. “Can’t be helped then. If it’s something fated then what can we do? Right Eri-chan.”

Eri pouted but agreed.

“That’s all very well, but that doll looks old, how much did it cost?” Rika-san asked.

I shuddered then with a different sort of pain than my injuries. “Don’t ask. Even after extensive haggling… my wallet cried.”

“So, he’s buying you really expensive presents… and that yukata too, I guess, away from his girlfriend?” Yae-san was still annoyed, it seemed. “Dressing up another girl when you have a beauty like little Ri-Ri already, that’s bad. If you wanted to cheat you could have asked me…”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off, wincing as the fabric of my shirt pulled at my wounds. Hopefully no blood comes through, Shaeula wrapped the injuries pretty well… “Seriously there was no cheating, the shop that had the doll had some yukata too, and Shaeula really wanted it, so I bought it. Then Shaeula thought it would be good if I changed my image a bit, so we got me some new threads. Simple as that. Speaking of buying things, I’ll cover lunch while we are here, sound good?”

My sister and Eri were looking at Shaeula, waiting for her nod. When she gave it, they relaxed a little.

“Do you… want to share this?” Eri pointed at the menu to a jumbo parfait that was supposedly ‘a treat for couples.’. Her gaze was boring into me, expectant, so I nodded, ignoring the laughter around me, and the muttered complaints of Yae-san, who was still insisting nothing added up…

Well why would it? I’m just amazed Eri and my sis are taking my crappy story so well. Maybe it’s Charm at work?