On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Eighty-Nine

Shaeula headed off one way, while I moved towards the roulette tables. Even though it was still early, the hustle and bustle of the many eager gamblers was intense, people celebrating the joys of a big win or commiserating their losses. Grabbing a beer on the way I took a pleasant swig of the cold alcohol, before sitting down at the most expensive table, which was a minimum bet of a hundred dollars a chip. Dropping a roll of bills I received a large pile of chips, and when there was a lull between spins, several gamblers beside me sighing as their chips were taken by the dealers, I placed my first bet.

“Twenty-Eight, Black, Even.” Came the voice of the dealer, and with a smile I watched as he added two hundred to my chips. A promising start. Taking another long swig of beer I pushed some more chips onto the table…

I noticed as time passed and the wheel spun that the blessing of fortunate winds seemed to be whispering to me, giving me brief flashes of inspiration. It wasn’t like the solid knowing I felt the first time I won big on roulette, or when I was fighting the jorogumo for the first time, but when it came down to chances where the odds weren’t too long, I was winning more than I would have expected, even taking into account my Fortune statistic. Soon a rather generous helping of chips had piled up in front of me and the half-dozen people around me, most of whom had started to follow my bets as well.

The dealer is looking rather pale. I guess I’ve been too lucky… don’t want to push it.

“Well, I think I’ve rode my luck enough for one night.” I smiled to everyone around me, ignoring their cries of disappointment. “Besides, I have to meet my girlfriend after this, so…”

“Oh come on man, you never quit while you are on a heater.” One guy said, and several echoed him, but I waved them off apologetically. Counting up my chips I swallowed saliva nervously. Nearly sixty thousand dollars in profit in just under two hours… Shit, that’s insane…

“Now now, don’t hassle the man. We’ve all made out like bandits chasing his luck, right? Let’s not be ungrateful.” One man, a tall, blonde American said. He turned to me and winked. “So, you sticking around in the old City Of Sin for a while, or is this it?”

“I’m here for the weekend.” I admitted, bringing a bright smile from him. He draped an arm around me, which I felt was a bit forward, but I guessed that Americans were pretty informal when it came to physical contact.

“Oh, I see, I see. Well, if you are feeling really lucky and want to try for some big money…” the American grinned. “… how are you at poker? I’m a man who trusts my gut, and my gut tells me you are someone I should get to know. So if you think you know your way around a deck of cards, there’s a fair few big tables going down tomorrow, and a tournament at the Casino El Diablo as well. Hundred grand buy-in minimum, but with your winnings, you could afford it. The pot for the winner should be in the millions… sound good? It should, even hearing about the tournament at El Diablo shows that you’ve caught the eye of someone big in Vegas…”

Poker hmmm? I had tried to test my Fortune with cards and luck definitely helped change the odds, but then poker was far from all about luck… still… It can’t hurt to ask… I wonder where Casino El Diablo is? I haven’t heard of it, must be a smaller one…

As we discussed it, discovering that the first tables would be starting at 9pm, I agreed to take part should nothing else come up. The American looked pleased, and hoped we would meet in the final table. As we were finishing up Shaeula came back, looking pleased with herself. I guess things went well for her, too?

“Oh, so this is your girlfriend, huh?” The American, who told me his name was Buck, misunderstood, but since it was a pain I let him think what he wanted. “Pretty nice looking, if I do say so. How you doing there, doll?”

“Doll?” Shaeula frowned. “I suppose it is of no matter-matter. How fares your fortunes, Akio? I have performed well, as can be expected.” She showed me her hands, full of chips too.

“Hey, guess your girl is as lucky as you, eh? I can’t wait to see if your poker skill is as great as your luck. I knew my instincts weren’t wrong. Always trust your gut!” he chuckled, patting his stomach.

Ignoring the buzz of my fellow gamblers Shaeula and I went to cash out. She had made just under thirty thousand dollars of chips as well, and as we received our winnings Shaeula chatted excitedly about the various games she had played. Not knowing the rules that well she had observed others, then placed bets almost at random, winning more often than not.

It's a great start, better than I’d hoped, but to put in place my plans for Shirohebizumi shrine… far more was needed. Poker sounds like a good way of making big money… Perhaps it was fate, or my Fortune at work, meeting Buck…

********

Meeting outside of the show, we waited for Eri and Aiko to come out. As they exited amongst the crowds Eri spotted us, her face lighting up. Hurrying over, my sis following, she grabbed my hand, face flushed with excitement.

“Akio, the show was amazing. I’ve never seen such tricks. I wonder how they do it. You should have come with us!”

It’s unusual for Eri to be so excitable, she must really have liked it…

“Come on now Eri-chan, you know big bro and Shaeula had business to attend to. So, how was the meeting? You didn’t blow it so that we have to fly home poor and sad, did you?” my sister teased me.

“Nah, I’d say it went really well. I have a follow-up tomorrow, but assuming that goes as planned, your big brother will be in business!”

“Cool, mom and dad will be really pleased. Eri-chan too.” My sis elbowed her slyly. “Looks like you’ll be a lady of leisure when you two get hitched, my big bro will be bringing in the money!”

Listening to Eri’s embarrassed protests and Shaeula snickering I had to grin, feeling warm inside.

After letting them banter a while we headed out to a bar that still served minors. As we entered the strip, mesmerised by all the neon that pierced the darkness of the night, I noticed Shaeula was glancing about strangely, seeming distracted.

“What’s up?” I whispered, careful not to let the girls hear.

“There is something strange around… something… off. It feels almost like… a Territory? But this is here on the Material. Maybe I am mistaken-mistaken?”

Shaeula isn’t often wrong. We should be wary… patting her reassuringly on the shoulder I spoke quietly. “Maybe we can look into it later? No point worrying about it now, right?”

She nodded her agreement, and soon we arrived at our destination, and enjoyed some drinks (the girls were not having alcohol of course) and snacks amidst laughter and tales. This continued for a while until the girls started to look tired, yawning and nodding off.

Yeah, it’s good to remember why I am doing all this. It isn’t for the money, it’s for how I can use the money to keep my family safe and happy… who else but I can protect them in these changing times?

 ********

Looking at Eri and Aiko, snuggled up together in the king-sized bed in our suite, I shook my head wryly. “The poor girls are all tuckered out. It makes sense, it’s been a busy day and all that after a long flight. We’ll let them get some rest, so they are all fresh for tomorrow.”

“So, what shall we do now-now?” Shaeula asked. “We could return to the casino and triumph some more-more, or perhaps we could visit the Boundary and train?”

The Boundary, huh? I am pretty interested in seeing what it’s like out here in the American desert…

“Well, the plan for tomorrow was to do a lot of gambling, and now we have this poker tournament to check out, so we can probably give more gambling a miss for tonight. Let’s check out the Boundary here. Who knows, it might be a valuable experience, right?”

With a snort of agreement Shaeula joined me in our room, she took the king-sized bed, while I took the smaller one. Cycling aether we were soon within the Boundary, only to feel oppressed and weak.

Damn, I never really thought this would happen… Aether was drifting slowly from our bodies, depleting into the air, so I concentrated, trying to hold it in as Shaeula joined me, peering around at the rather horrific room we were within, spikes of bone and chitin jutting out from the walls, making us feel we were within the jaws of some malevolent beast.

“This building must be a Territory here-here…” Shaeula said, eyes shining. Luckily the suite room still had a solid door of hardened shell barring the rest of the building from us, but from outside I could hear malevolent clicking noises and the clink of bone on bone, growing in intensity and number. With a solid thump the door shook, as if something heavy had banged against it. From within the room there was a series of chittering noises and a swarm of hand-sized spiders of bone scattered, scuttling in all directions.

Ugh, gross. What is this, Silent Hill? Another series of thumps shook the door, dead white dust falling from the ceiling under the vibrations.

“So, are we going to counterattack?” I asked. “I forgot that large buildings seemed to house denizens of the Boundary more often than not. You think we can handle whatever is out there?”

“Perhaps-perhaps.” Shaeula replied. “But this is not our home ground, and we are trapped within. The master of this place will surely have great advantage over us. We could return to the Material, or…” her eyes fell on the great window occupying one side of the suite in the Material. Here it too was a window, but one surrounded by bone hooks and spines.

“Clever. But we are quite high up. Oh well…” I walked over to the window, which was covered in filth and dust, and with a blow from my new spear shattered it, large shards of soiled glass falling to the warped street below. As the window was opened a breeze blew in, filled with shimmering motes of elemental wind, and hints of elemental fire.

Wow. “this is… quite the view…” for a moment I forgot about the oppressive weight of the Territory and the ever-increasing cacophony outside of the malformed apartment. The sky was full of shining aurorae, rippling with the brilliant green of wind energy. All around us tall buildings were seen, some looking like their Material counterparts, neon lights joining the non-light of the Astral, while others were like the building we were in, changed and shocking in appearance. The Bellagio, for example now looked like a series of antlers rising into the sky, while there were others that were like giant slimes or rusted iron golems towering above the landscape. Further out, beyond the changed strip, the Nevada deserts stretched out endlessly, pillars of shimmering stone rising from the sands, great plumes of green and yellow energies flickering in and out of existence.

“Yeah, I’m glad I got to see this.” I muttered, before Shaeula slapped me on the back of the head, jolting me back to reality.

“You can admire the view later, master. For now, I fear we should be going-going, no?” Behind us the door was starting to crack, and through the tears I could see yellow eyes glaring.

“Yeah, I think you are right. Let’s hope there is a way down. We are up pretty high…” Looking out of the window I could see the outside was also covered in large bone spikes, so it was possible, if rather scary, to climb down, assuming one had suitable strength. Hang on, I think we have something that will help us as well…

“Shaeula, it’s your time to shine!” I smiled at her, and for a second she didn’t seem to realise what I meant, before returning my grin…