On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Side Ninety-Three – Aliyah James

Well isn’t this a fucking tragic shitshow? Keeping her face impassive, she exchanged a look with Trey, who nodded, showing he agreed with her. Of course he does. Shit, that worthless shitbag, getting children involved in this mess… she hadn’t approved of her new boss training such young children, although she agreed it was good to grow strength when young, but even he wasn’t dumb enough to take them anywhere dangerous…

After getting frantic calls from that girl Kana, and his sister Aiko, she and Trey had started to organise things. Manx and Travis had accompanied the old man from the shrine and that weird androgynous snake-thing towards the hospital, and she had impressed on them the seriousness of the mission. Apparently another kid is badly hurt. Shit. Anyway, it’s lucky we were all in a restaurant near the Palace so it only took us minutes to get here.

Inside the room, the sister was in conversation with a girl who didn’t seem to be Japanese, and one that Aliyah didn’t recognise. She’s pretty enough, but why is she here? The crazy maid was here too, fussing over the slumped bodies of Akio, Eri and Shaeula, while several other of the trainees were huddled in one corner, terrified.

“Damn, what the hell is my bro doing?” His sister, Aiko declared suddenly. She’s damn cute, but… no time for that now, this is operation time. Contrary to what people thought, when it was time for focus, Aliyah could be as stone-cold as it gets, though somehow not when Akio was involved. He … annoys me. Smug bastard. I can’t help but feel like I lose every time we clash. Even so… Aiko was kneeling down beside Eri, his woman, as suddenly the strange clothing she was wearing, that was apparently some sort of Japanese religious garb, darkened. It was hard to see her blood on the red cloth, but the white… that turned crimson quickly as a long wound had suddenly opened up on her body. “Shit, Eri’s hurt. If she scars, I’ll never forgive you bro!” she clenched her fist, emotions surging.

Shit, it sure is crazy seeing that. It’s been one shock after another recently. Another world, crazy monsters… her gaze went to the hulking yet oddly handsome bald brute in a suit that had accompanied them back. A troll, supposedly. A fucking troll. Worst thing is, that my brother thinks he’s hot…

“Hyacinth, Grul needs to know what has happened!” the brute rumbled, his dirty yellow eyes furious. “Why did you call us back?”

“Master Akio needs help!” the maid declared, her face twitching, her body trembling with supressed rage. The blonde monster, Shaeula, she too was starting to manifest wounds, and as bruises and cuts opened on her pale skin, and the young girls that had come with them, who were watching from one corner, were terrified. This is why kids shouldn’t be involved in stuff like this!

“Marika, my darling, are you all right?” her mother rushed to her, scooping her into a hug. The young girl was pale-faced with a green, sickly pallor, her usually serious eyes brimming with unshed tears, but she managed a nod. The other adults were likewise coming over.

“Eri, my little Eri… what’s this blood? Ugh, do something!” her mother, who was a fine-looking woman, despite her age, Aliyah had to admit, was panicking at the blood leaking from her daughter. Her husband was trying to console her, while the parents of my new boss were looking around with grim expressions.

“I would if I could. Shit, I don’t know how to use Ether Healing on anyone but myself.” Aiko said, her expression twisted into one of mocking self-loathing. “Do you, Hyacinth?” she asked.

“Ether Healing? What’s that?” the blonde foreigner with the magnificent twin-tails asked curiously, seemingly unphased by the mood of the room and the invisible violence.

“Well, you take aether and pour it into the body.” Aiko said, her hands wet with the blood of her best friend. She blinked at them, before her expression changed, being one of helplessness. “But I can only do it on myself and even that’s largely instinctive.” She shook her head, blue eyes damp. “Shit. I should have trained harder, better. Hyacinth, can you do healing?”

The crazy maid shook her head. Aliyah was always wary around her, as the look in her eyes sometimes was … well, I’ve seen those eyes on missions. Eyes that are willing to commit any atrocity if required. Damn, I can barely follow what most of them are saying, though I’ve picked up a little Japanese here and there. But I don’t need to understand to get the gist of it. Fuck, this is grim. “Nooo, I cannot heal, Hyacinth is useless. I shooould have learned too, but…” the maid looked furious, suddenly. “If mistress Eri and mistress Shaeula are hurt, then master Akiooo will be furiooous!”

“So, that makes me wonder…” the blonde said, seeming to completely ignore the mood. I exchanged a look with Trey, and nothing needed to be said. She’s another dangerous one. A girl her age who looks like a sheltered princess shouldn’t be able to remain calm when all this is going on… “…are you like us, Aiko? That’s cool, I never thought I’d meet any in Kyoto, let alone the one boss was talking about. He’s pretty handsome, I agree, but… she’ll be heartbroken when she finds out what a playboy he is, a cheater.” She giggled, tossing her now-spent lollipop stick into the trash. “She can be really scary when mad!”

That girl Eri was manifesting bruises on her face, one cheek laid bare to the bone, and her mother let out another piteous wail, while Emily, the mother of Akio, that smug bastard, was angry, shaking off her husband’s hand, kneeling beside the unconscious girl, heedless of the blood getting on her tight jeans. I have to say, looks run in his damn family…

“I’m going to give Aki a piece of my mind when they get back.” She looked at Eri’s mother, a solemn expression on her face. “… and they will be back. Aki won’t… he won’t let Eri die. But… letting a girl get scarred like this. It’s lucky they are already getting married, or else he’d have to take responsibility.”

“Well, if it’s just scars, bro can fix them. But… he didn’t want Eri to go. We talked him into it.” Aiko shuddered, guilt gnawing at her. “Eri had been training so hard, even though she’s just ordinary, like me. So she wanted to be useful. Even so…”

“It wasn’t your fault.” The foreign girl said, surprising me. “I mean, I get it. It’s just like a storybook, right? A God comes, gives you power, and you feel like you can do anything. Poor old Daizen thought the same, but…” she shuddered. “… anyway, you never answered me.”

“No, Eri and I aren’t like you.” Aiko shook her head in denial. “We’re ordinary schoolgirls you can find anywhere. Well, we’re certainly cuter than average, but…” she said weakly. “My bro, he and Shaeula can help us reach our full potential. And so Eri… she wanted to prove it’s been worth it. And I wanted her to. We’re both idiots.” Tears were leaking freely from her now, and Aliyah felt sudden anger. That stupid bastard. Making his sister and his family cry like that. When he comes back I have a good mind to punch the fucker in the mouth. But… not now. Now it’s time to work. Trey and I, we were tasked to keep his family and friends safe. And that we can do. Words aren’t needed for that, instinct and alertness is.

She and Trey, along with Travis and Manx, they had been training ever since the surgery, no… Chirurgery, to grasp the new strength they were given. It wasn’t like she understood the explanation very well, though Trey claimed to, though she guessed he was bullshitting her to look good. But what she did know was that she had largely mastered the increased speed, strength and reflexes. I have to admit, there aren’t many of those in the business that could match me now… Her capacity to learn had also increased, which was a blessing, being in a country where she didn’t speak the language other than a few basic phrases.

“Grul should go.” He rumbled, looking at the scene. “Grul will help and crush strong foes.”

“Hyacinth wants to go toooooo, but… I cannot leave them unprotected.” Her expression was flat, her face a mask, and Aliyah could feel her boiling rage. It was then the door burst open, and in came a man with the air of someone important, used to being obeyed. “Akio-san, you shouldn’t throw your weight…” his words trailed off as he saw the carnage room, eyes going wide…

********

“This is a grim day.” The man, Gin Saionji, was saying. Other important people had been summoned, including apparently an actual, honest to goodness Princess, who was watching with a sorrowful expression next to a woman who was completely covered in veils and robes like one of those Middle-Eastern women from the desert countries, only in white, not black.

“Yes, to think Yamato-kun would do something so foolish…” additional bodies had been moved to the room, though calling them bodies was problematic. After all, there are real dead bodies. Shit, some of those fucking kids are in middle school, what dumb fucker takes kids to a warzone? No, I know the answer to that… Aliyah made a face of grief, one mirrored by her brother. She and Trey had seen a lot of fucked-up sights in her time in the field, child soldiers, child victims, but for a civilised country like this to… fuck. She clenched a fist, but even so, her other hand was on her combat knife, and her attention was on the whole room, in case anyone attempted to make a hostile move.

As the dead were carried out, the others were being put down alongside the sleeping Akio, Eri and Shaeula. They had all accrued more injuries, though Akio’s body was barely bruised, compared to Eri, who was sporting more cruel wounds. The amount of blood she had lost was worrying, but her strength seemed to be holding out, as she was still breathing steadily. Even so, her mother had fainted, and was being cared for in the corner.

“Where’s Ren? Where’s my son?” Hiroto Hikawa was saying, panicked. And no wonder. His daughters, a pair of young twins, had been brought in, comatose. They were still alive at least, but their wounds were grave, the sort that could cripple a strong soldier, let alone a frail young girl, and even if they survived, it was likely that their life would be very different in the future. “And what the hell is Oshiro-san doing? Why isn’t… why…” he was crying, and a man tried to console him, before he shook the arm angrily off. “Get the fuck off me, this is your son’s fault! Why would he take… take them to such a place?” Yeah, tempers are bound to flare, grief and anger quickly turn to blame and hatred. Trey and I have seen it all before, too many times.

“Ren-san’s fine.” Aiko said with a sigh. “Well, not fine, but my bro did first aid, he’s heading to the hospital. He… he can fix…” her eyes wavered, and she swallowed, seeing the sheet-covered bodies in gruesome states being taken out, blood seeping through the linen. “… well, as long as there’s life, there’s hope. Bro was planning to move heaven and earth to improve his healing for that Shiro girl, anyway, so…”

“Oh, so sweet. To think the boss is so well loved.” The blonde girl, who had insisted she was a Japanese girl named Suzu, had said, but Aliyah was sure she was American, a runaway, maybe. “Now I’m really curious. I’d like to see him in action. You want me to go with you?” she gestured.

“No. Having an unknown like you in the mix would be insane.” Trey said, surprising everyone, as the two of them had been guarding the scene silently, following the conversations via non-verbal cues such as body language, tone and facial expressions. “Unknown elements, even ones with great ability, are more dangerous than an avowed enemy.”

“Oh so you do speak? English, huh?” the girl, Suzu said, sucking on another lollipop. “Well, I get that, but…”

“Wait, they’re waking up!” someone shouted, and one of the twins opened her eyes, a bubbling scream tearing from her ragged throat. She blinked as her father rushed over, reaching for her, but she shied away, blood dripping from ragged flesh.

“Father, no. I… there’s no time.” She coughed, and her spittle was red. “Sister…” she mourned her more-wounded twin, who despite having returned was unconscious from the pain of her wounds. “We could get out, Akio-sama, he… he was angry, and the Oni died, the one who imprisoned us there is dead too. She…” she nodded at Eri, the movement bringing her pain. “… finished her off. But the barrier… it broke, and was changed to a curse on them.” Another girl was crying out, her eyes destroyed, beating at the floor with her small, dark fists, heedless of her own injuries.

“They can’t leave, and… the unholy parade, the Parade is coming!” she finished. “Send… send help, they… Akio-sama, Shaeula-sama, Mori-sama… and Yamato-sama…” her expression twisted.

“My son, what about my son!” the man who Hiroto had brushed off before rushed to her, only for Aliyah to block him. “Out of my way!” he snarled, words she could understand by their tone alone.

“Calm. The. Fuck. Down.” Aliyah declared, and her tone brooked no argument. “She’s hurt, you jackass. Don’t scare her.”

“I…” he said in passable English. “… I need to know about my son. Yamato, he’s the hope of Susanoo, the hope of the faith…”

“He’s hope?” she replied incredulously, gesturing to the bodies being taken out, the floor splattered with blood. “He’ll be lucky if I don’t put a bullet in his head for this when he wakes up. Never take kids or uninvolved women to war. It’s the job of adults. Fuck.” She was furious, but her mind was still on the job. “Now. Sit down. Let her speak.”

“Doctors are on their way.” Aiko said, confirming. “Kana-chan reached the hospital okay, so…”

“Yamato-sama… he too is trapped there.” The twin muttered, exhausted. “… his foolish pride. I think… he wanted to show… he was as good… as Akio-sama…”

“Don’t speak, my darling daughter! Doctors will be here soon, and… you and your sister will be fine.” Hiroto was sobbing. Other adults dressed in the peculiar clothing that these religious people wore were also arriving, seeing their dead relatives and breaking down. The atmosphere was hellish, and it could spiral out of control at any minute. Wailing, shouting, denials, grief. Someone needs to take charge, before this powder keg blows.

“All right. Shut up!” Aiko clapped her hands, scrubbing at her tear-stained cheeks. “Shut up. Listen to me.” She said, this time in English, for her benefit, Aliyah imagined.

“My bro, well, looks like he got there a bit too late.” She swallowed, her face grief-stricken, before she forced herself to recover. “So here’s what we do.” Surprisingly, the blonde runaway, Suzu, was translating into English for them, so Aliyah and her brother could follow along. “My bro asked for Grulgor, but…” she eyed the hulking, oddly-handsome brute. “… I don’t think that’s going to be enough alone. Hyacinth, you…” she lowered her voice, as if afraid to continue, before making up her mind. “… you can do that, right? It might come down to it, so…”

That? I wonder what she’s talking about. Though if that crazy maid can do it, it can’t be anything good.

“I can dooo that, though I promised master I would nooot use it carelessly.” She declared. “Even sooo, Hyacinth wishes to go, but I must proootect you and the others. If you are hurt, master will cry and scooold me!”

“You don’t have to translate that stupid drawling she does with her o’s.” Aliyah grumbled, but Suzu just giggled.

“Well, I still want to go. But since you won’t let me, I can stay here and guard?” Suzu piped up. “It’s a bit silly leaving your body unprotected. He’s a bit careless. I wouldn’t want the boss to find out I left her beloved like that.” She giggled. “She’s pretty, but I don’t want her to eat me. It would be the end of my idol career!”

Yes, he is. And this is the result. As for you staying, I don’t think…

“I shall remain too…” the god-damned Princess said! As Aliyah and Trey reeled in shock, the robed and veiled woman said something that seemed to be agreement, and others volunteered as well.

“Fine. In that case, Hyacinth, surely these people won’t turn on bro and us, right? Besides…” Aiko called a ball of flame on her hand. “I’ll deal with any problems.”

She’s bluffing, but… Aliyah’s hand was on her combat knife again. In a room like this, they’ll underestimate us, since we don’t have these strange powers. But… if it came down to it, one thrust to the throat or at the base of the ribs, or a cut to the armpits or inner thighs… It might not work on Akio, that tough bastard, but these… it didn’t matter what powers one had, when bleeding out, everyone died, just the same…

Trey nodded, signalling his agreement. The maid protested a little more, before she and the troll lay down, and their bodies were suddenly empty, lifeless husks, not even breathing. There was a sound like breaking bone, and Aliyah winced as she saw that Shaeula’s still body was now sporting a very brutal broken arm. Shit. Akio you fucker. You’ve told us you want to protect those you love. So why are you barely hurt and your girls are suffering? If they have any scars, I’m going to find a way to beat you the hell up, I swear it!