On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred And Eighty-Three

This… this isn’t fair. No. Cradling the terribly light Mine-san in my arms I felt another injury as a spear gouged my flesh. It was painful, but no more than an insect bite, and I paid it equally as little mind. Blood was soaking my hands and chest, and a heavy impact rocked me as an Oni slammed a club down on my back. I heard cries from Shaeula and Eri, but it was as if they were coming from far away. Another stab from a spear, and my fragile patience shattered.

“Fuck off!” I roared, concentrating wind energy onto my fist. I struck out and slammed a punch into the thick skull of the Oni that had stabbed me. For a moment bone resisted, but my fingers jabbed out, plunging into the eyes, and in a welter of gore the yokai collapsed, dying, brain minced. The other paused, and since the attacks had ceased, I ignored it, my Ether Healing naturally restoring the minor wounds I had suffered so far.

“Ether Healing, that should work…” I said, aether surging from me, trying to repair the grievous wounds Mine-san had suffered. Even as I desperately poured in my reserves, working to repair the shattered astral body, Mine-san shook her head weakly, her eyes on mine.

“It’s no use. Guess… well, I’m dying, right? It’s, like, really painful, but…”

“No, no!” I protested. I have to heal her quickly, Eri’s hurt too, and the surviving girls from the shrines. Surviving. Just thinking about the dead filled my heart with anger and despair. Yamato, that stupid, stupid fucker… no, I need to focus. Shaeula was fighting hard, and Eri was doing her best, so I needed to get this done so I could help clean up these Oni. Even with Split Thoughts, it was proving difficult, as she had three brutal injuries, and the wounds were tainted too, darkness energy circulating, inflicting constant damage to her capillaries and chakras.

“It’s going to be all right. I will… I will heal you! It’s what I’ve been training hard for!” I declared, continuing to work. An Oni approached me, but wind and flame weasels from Shaeula drove it back, taking an arm from it.

I can’t fix her missing arms for now. Even Ether Healing isn’t a miracle cure. She’d need regeneration like Grulgor. Speaking of, where is he? I need him now! Seal the wounds, then concentrate on the torso wound, though… the heart chakra is destroyed completely, along with… ugh, what do I do? The wounds were catastrophic.

“No. I’m… not…” she coughed, spraying sparkling silver-crimson blood. Looking down on her I could see her face was wet with tears, and more were falling onto her. Rain, in the Boundary?

“Hush, don’t try to speak, I’ll… do something. Just stay with me!” I protested. Looking down on her, the image in my mind went to Eri and Aiko, imagining them mauled by that dog from our past, dying, or Shaeula, killed by the Bakaneko. Shiro, she too had grievous wounds and could easily have died, but she pulled through, so…

“Nothing you can do.” She sighed. “Damn, I knew, like…” more coughing, more blood, as I desperately poured aether in, though it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit, achieving little. “… I never wanted to do this. Dying sucks, but, like… this ending could be worse.” She managed a smile, which tore at my heart. “Going out in a guy’s arms, him shedding tears for me. Like, that’s pretty… cool.”

“No it isn’t!” I protested. “When you die, it’s over! I… it shouldn’t end like this.”

“It’s not, like, our choice, is it? Stuff happens, that’s life.” She said, strangely calm, though the tightness of her facial muscles belied the great pain she was in, though at least my aether was soothing that, if nothing else. “You’re strong, no question. But… you’re not a God, like, are you? Even Gods…” blood was running down her chin, and her eyes were starting to become unfocused. “… we’ve met that kami right? They aren’t all powerful. I’m just…”

“Just…?” I echoed desperately.

“Just unlucky, I guess?” her words were faint now, only my hearing allowing me to pick them up. “I should… have, like, moved to your seats. Guess I’m sorry. You helped me impress that… kami, and now… what a waste…” her voice was a quiet mosquito buzz, barely a sound.

There has to be something I can do? Wait, Kin Bonding! If those stupid cats are there, then surely Mine-san… I tried desperately to connect to her spirit, to consider her kin, so that even if she died, she’d be like Haru-san, and eventually I’d be able to upgrade a Throne and bring her back, but… “Why? Why the fuck doesn’t it work? Shaeula could even bond with the maids that betrayed her, so why is Mine-san not…” I let out a frustrated roar, emotions boiling through me. It wasn’t like with Shiro, where I was terrified she would die, because I loved her. But the pain I felt was still deep, because it was just so unfair, and it triggered bad memories for me, of Shiro, and the dog, and when Shaeula was hurt against Ulfuric. I only knew Mine-san for a few days, but she was upbeat, cheerful and the sort of woman Shaeula and I would probably have enjoyed going to a bar with, drinking the night away. And now, she’s dying, because she listened to a stupid bastard and got involved in things she had no business with…

“Just, like… stop. You have… to save… the others. There’s some alive still, right?” she forced herself to speak. “Whoa, I can’t, like… see. Guess this… is it. Besides, if you die, or the girls who came to save us… that’s stupid. So… don’t cry. Be strong. And…” she was becoming transparent now, aether leaking from her, as well as shining brownish elemental essence of nature, as her divine favour started to shatter.

Shit. I can’t do it. I can’t just accept her as Kin, because I know in my heart she’s only somebody I just met. Why is the skill so unfair? “And…?” I asked gently, accepting the inevitable, my grief simmering down into cold, dead ashes of anger and fury. But I never received an answer, as a great cloud of aether was released, her life ending, her limp, fragile corpse slipping through my arms.

For a moment I was lost in a horrible vision that it was a girl I cared about hitting the ground, dead and lifeless. Eri. Aiko. My mom. Auntie Hana. Shiro. Shaeula. Hyacinth. Hinata. Motoko. Natsumi. Miyu. Karen-chan. Haru-san. The faces flickered endlessly in my vision. No. No more. Never again. I have... to learn from this, or else… her death is meaningless. They’ll have all died for nothing.  I had made mistakes, somewhere. And some things weren’t in my control. Even so, this was the result. It was heart-breaking, but… Even dying, Mine-san was still brave. And she’s right. There are still people to save, and I can’t let Eri and Shaeula get hurt more…

The tide of aether her death had released was drawn into me, my chakra network bursting with energy. I expanded my vision to a full three hundred and sixty degrees, the pain in my brain intense, only being mitigated by Split Thoughts. There were still Oni fighting Eri and Shaeula, and that Kijo bitch was laughing and cursing at us as we fought. You think this is funny? Well… I need an attack. One that shows as much mercy as these yokai. Battle was one thing, but they were torturers, as the wounds they inflicted showed. They were doing it because they enjoyed it.

Tyr. In the myths, he lost his hand, as Fenrir took it. Fenrir. Even Odin was destined to die to him, right? Even a God as powerful as him couldn’t survive the jaws… I shaped aether, converting it. The silver rainbow of energy began to change. Red, to orange, then yellow. It shone green, darkening to blue, which in turn shaded indigo, until finally the aether was converted into a series of shimmering violet lights.

That’s so wasteful. Converting aether into an element is hard work… but as my previous experiments showed, it can be done. Now… “You vile bastards. If you find it so funny to be the hunters, toying with your helpless prey, then find out what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the biggest dog, no, wolf of them all!” I said, my fury cold, calculating, burying my grief until later. “Fangs of Fenrir!”

Spears of indigo energy shot from me, aimed at each Oni, space itself parting, as if the Twin Fangs were discharging. Speaking of… I bent down and picked up the remaining Fang, and idly thought master Bjarki would be furious one of his masterpiece blades was destroyed. Screams filled the air, as the Oni died, their toughness nothing against the warping of space that sliced and tore them to shreds. I’ll… take stock later. For now, Mine-san was right. If I can save anyone, I have to accept that was a win, to balance the losses, even if just a little. This can’t all be in vain.

“Impressive.” Shaeula breathed, her face a little bloody, but her eyes holding compassion, as she knew what I was feeling. Eri did too, and I… I knew they were grief-stricken as well. After all, we had merged our souls via our lunar chakras multiple times, we were… connected. “Now hurry, the wounded females need…”

“You trash!” the Kijo howled, somehow still alive, though missing an arm where the Fangs of Fenrir had pierced her talisman barriers. “You killed them all! Monster! Fiend!”

“Such staggering hypocrisy.” Shaeula sighed. “I must say, I am not-not impressed with the calibre of the Night Parade, if you are an example of it. You can kill and torture as you please-please, but when you become the prey, you whine and cry? Pathetic! Well, I shall one day do something about it. Just as I will the Seelie Court. Now die-die!” Shaeula unleashed her remaining elemental hydras, and the Kijo retaliated, surging clouds of talismans detonating. Shaeula was thrown back, though she called upon wind to deflect the worst of the blows, and the Kijo began to call on more talismans, before she slumped forwards, eyes going wide in shock.

“You… mortal trash.” The Kijo fell face down, an axe embedded in the back of her skull, the edge of the axe white-hot and shimmering with flame energy. Eri was looking down on her through a mask of blood. One of her cheeks was savagely cut to the bone by explosions, and blood was running into her eyes, but she blinked it away, expression cold as she wrenched the axe free, making the Kijo scream.

“Well, this mortal trash just put an axe in your head, bitch!” Eri said coldly, and for a moment I paused stunned, before racing back over to the twins and the other girl, Shaeula joining me. We started Ether Healing immediately, enough ether around us to absorb due to the slain Oni. I guess… my sis did say Eri can be a bit frightening when angry. But… her anger is justified.

“You did, you did.” The Kijo suddenly changed her tone, giggling, seemingly in good humour, even as she was dying. “My sister… I wonder what she’ll say. And the Red bastard… heh…” she hissed a bloody laugh, even as Eri lifted her axe for a finishing blow. “If you were all to flee when the barrier dissipates, that would be unfair. Hunted, to hunter, to hunted again. The circle of life.” She called out a word of power, even as Eri’s axe fell, a savage strike. Some of the barrier separated, and talismans sped down, landing on Eri, Shaeula, Yamato and I, unleashing a curse.

“Now you cannot escape. Even with the barrier gone…” the Kijo managed to say, even with a shattered skull, axe embedded in her brain. “… the curse will hold you here long enough… SISTER! COME QUICKLY! I AM SLAIN!” her last strength sent a bellow out into the darkness of Kyoto, echoing through the city.

Even in death she was an annoyance. Well, there’s no time. “Hang on Chiasa-san, I’ll start healing you.” I said, working Ether Healing desperately on her and her sister, while Shaeula was working on the blinded girl. Overhead, the barrier was fading, and the ruddy light was becoming see-through, the silver skies overhead shining, clear to see. “When the barrier dissipates, you’ll return to the Material as you are all out of aether. Doctors should be on their way, so… just don’t die and we’ll fix you on our return.”

“Indeed.” Shaeula agreed, calming the sobbing blind girl. “At least you shall-shall survive.” She sighed, eyeing the stunned Yamato, who had watched me decimate the Oni, with disdain and disgust. “A grim day indeed.”

“No, I heard.” Chiasa-san said desperately. “That… that thing said it would curse you. You’ll be trapped here! Hurry and go. We… we cannot be the cause of your death, Akio-sama.”

“Bullshit.” I said crudely, surprising the young girl, who was trying to be brave, but was clearly terrified. “I’m the adult here, and more importantly, when I accepted you at my training school, I accepted responsibility for you. A curse? Yeah, sure. But… that does nothing to me. I’ll have it broken before you know it.” I smiled reassuringly, though I didn’t feel happy. My Spiritually Pure Physique is already working well, I can feel the curse being expelled. It’ll break shortly. The problem is… Eri and that bastard Yamato. Shaeula and I were already leaking black ooze, the curse in physical form, but Eri… If I speak to Yamato now, I’m going to end up snapping his fucking neck. This… this blood is on his hands. If he wants to get himself killed that’s fine, but… so many, so many!

Seeing Eri limping over, her face bloodied and torn, ashen from the pain now the battle was over and her mind had caught up, her dress ripped and covered in blood, her body gouged and battered, I reached out a hand to her, but she shook her head, merely sitting down wearily beside me. “I won’t die. I promise. I’m going nowhere.” She managed, forcing a smile. “Heal them first. I can wait. I’m pretty tough. Though… not as tough as Oni, it seems.” She let out a bitter laugh.

I nodded. Though my first instinct was to leap towards Eri, fixing her wounds, she was right. She could survive them, after all, that was why she had fought and levelled so hard. The shrine maidens though, they were fragile, weak… “So, Eri… what…” she silenced me with a kiss, bitter and tasting of iron.

“I know. I think… I think you and Shaeula should go back with the girls. Make sure they survive.” She sighed. “I’ll stay here with him.” She glared at Yamato, who had crept closer to us, even if he was still keeping his distance.

“You know I’m not going to let you do that.” I shook my head. Chiasa-san was watching quietly, her breathing better, and her unconscious sister, while gravely hurt, was out of immediate danger. If they got medical attention back in the Material, they’d survive. Though they’ll never be the same again, not without major treatment. But I’ll make sure they get it.

Shaeula had finished her healing as well, and she went to Eri, tutting sourly at her injuries. “Eri, you can not-not get your face injured. Akio loves your face. Let me fix it.” Eri barely flinched as Shaeula began to heal her.

“Well, it’s not like I wanted to. But… that bitch was strong.” Eri sighed. “Nishimorioka has nothing like this. I… I was overconfident.” She looked down, despondent. “Aiko and I, we should never have pushed you into letting me come. I’m.. I’m pathetic. I thought I’d grown strong. But no, I’m still just a burden. So… let me stay. I’ll run away, hide. Maybe I can make it to a Territory I can shelter in.” As her colour returned, she sighed bitterly. “Kiyomizu-dera isn’t too far south, right? If I go with Yamato…”

“Mori-sama, to think that due to us, you are in such danger…” Chiasa-san said, grief-stricken.

“Don’t be stupid. Like I said, I’m the idiot here. and Akio too.” Eri reassured the young, afraid girl. The dome was starting to fully collapse, talismans flaring to ash, and soon she would be returned to the Material, along with her twin sister and fellow shrine maiden. Eri then talked to me, expression serious. “Seriously, you shouldn’t be so sweet to me. You’re my husband, or… you will be. If… when we survive this.” She looked down at her hand, where an astral version of her engagement ring lurked, as it was intrinsically part of her mental image of herself now. “So if I’m talking rubbish, you can’t just agree with me. I… I’m clingy, and I get carried away, but…”

“But nothing.” Shaeula stopped her. “I too am at fault. Though if we were not-not cursed by that worthless creature, you would-would have proved somewhat useful.” She shrugged. “But it is true. You are still-still too weak. Just a few more months, is it not-not? Then you shall live with us all the time. Then I shall train you until you surely-surely wish you had never asked. You will be strong.”

It was then the dome vanished, the remaining talismans dust, and the three girls vanished. “Well then. At least… they’ll live. Though without Ether Healing they’ll be crippled for life.” I reached out my hands, pulling Eri and Shaeula to their feet. “I’m at fault. I know it. A series of small mistakes. No, not even mistakes, not all of them. Small words and deeds, overconfidence, and this is the result. Eri, you know I’m not going to leave you here to face the Night Parade alone.  So don’t waste your breath.” I am not counting Yamato. Never. “If you die, I die too.”

“And I.” Shaeula agreed. “But for now, we should flee.” As we turned to go, Yamato asked me a question.

“What about me? You can’t leave me here!”

“Don’t fucking talk to me, imbecile!” I raged. “Look around you! How many did you get killed with your idiocy? I am sorely tempted to kill you now, and tell your father you died to those Oni.” At my venomous fury, he blanched, but he snapped back, defensive.

“Yes, I made mistakes. But have you never lost anyone? Are you some perfect hero who always saves the day?” he spat, incensed, and my fists clenched, the urge to wring his neck intensifying. He’s right though. Sure, most of the weaselkin we lost have been reborn by Kin Restoration, but… against the Raven Knight we lost trolls and white snakes, and kobolds have died too. They’ll never be coming back… even so…

“I’m no hero. Not yet. Not until this never happens again. I have to learn to be better.” I agreed as we ran, Shaeula continuing to heal Eri’s wounds. The darkness inflicting them was being absorbed, though, Eri greedily pulling it into her throat chakra. “I’ve lost allies, sure. But I’ve never taken children into a warzone.”

“What of her?” he nodded at Eri. “She’s still in school, some would call her a…”

“Fuck off!” Eri cursed, surprising me. “I’m no child, and Akio always made sure I was supported. I chose willingly, you just dragged them along to their deaths. Coward!” she spat furiously.

“Hikawa Ren told me he was strong, like you!” he protested weakly. “Why wouldn’t I believe him? Besides, I… wasn’t really expecting them to fight.” He was defensive, and as we headed southwards towards Kiyomizu-dera, where we could at least use the defences to buy time for Eri to shake off her curse, he tried to excuse himself. “Sure, I thought they could probably handle a few weak enemies, but Naruhito-san, Mine-san, and the other one… I thought we could deal with matters well enough. I just wanted to make them understand. Is that so wrong?”

“Understand what?” Shaeula asked, eyes glittering with curiosity.

“That I was a worthy leader! After all, Kannon has blessed me. The world needs mercy. My father agrees. You said it yourself, that Territory would belong to those who claimed it. Kyoto… it should be ours. We’ve always carried the faith, for this day! Surely we should be rewarded?”

“That reminds me. Mirror. Now.” I snapped, and he gingerly handed it over. I examined it with my Eye, satisfied. Though as I did so, Shaeula gestured, and I nodded. I can hear them. Coming from multiple directions. I don’t think we will reach the edges of his Territory in time… “Yamato, hard work does deserve reward. And your gifts are great. But… you lack compassion. Haru-san is a far better Candidate of Kannon than you. Now you need to atone. I don’t know if you can, but…” I suddenly seized him by the collar, shocking him. “… make a start. I know you replenished some aether from the dead Oni, so get out your Golden Warriors. You’ll fight until your last breath to make sure Eri can get out safely. I fucking swear, if anyone else dies because of your idiocy here, I’ll kill you!”

“You wouldn’t dare, that’s murder…” he said, face ghostly white.

“I wouldn’t? I wonder. My hands are red with blood already. Those who deserved it, and they killed less than you. You killed my students, Yamato. I trained them so they could grow stronger and be safe in the future, instead, you brought them to this hell and got them killed!”

“Akio, I don’t need…” Eri began, but I shook my head.

“Eri, do shut up, please.” I said, surprising her, before she smiled, realising I had done just what she asked earlier. “My priority is you. And if Yamato has to die for that, well, that would tie things up nicely.”

“I don’t…” he began, before Shaeula flourished her dagger of light at him menacingly, which silenced him.

“But if you die here, Akio… Hyacinth, Motoko, Natsumi, Hinata, this Shiro girl… they’ll grieve. How can you do that to them?” Eri still tried to persuade me.

“I’ll not die here.” I assured Eri. “And nor will you. Well, no. I’ve learned I can’t just say that. But if I’m wrong and the worst happens… well, dying for my fiancée isn’t such a bad ending. Now… enough talk.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Eri agreed. “I can hear them.”

Indeed, the loud, raucous revelry was approaching us swiftly, the sound of bells, drums, trumpets, flutes and unearthly singing and howling closing in on us rapidly. All around us, there were creatures on the strange buildings of Kyoto, cats, snakes, humanoids and more, watching us with eyes of a myriad of colours. “Looks like the Night Parade is here. This isn’t something we can fight… huh?” An object came flying out of the darkness between buildings, heading for Eri, but Shaeula was faster. She threw up a wall of glittering jade energies, which slowed the projectile enough. She caught it one-handed, her arm bending then breaking, before the object fell to the ground, a sloshing sound heard from within.

“A… gourd?” Yamato-san said dumbly, seeing a massive pottery jug, of the sort used to hold fine sake. It was nearly as tall as Shaeula was, so it was no wonder she had been injured stopping it.

“Tch.” Shaeula clicked her tongue in annoyance, bending her broken arm back into place and beginning to heal it. Eri was frozen, shocked at the sudden attack, and then… out of the shadows from whence it came stepped an Oni. This one was massive, nearly ten feet tall, and with deep crimson skin and eyes. The horns it sported were huge and majestic, and in one hand it dragged a club the size of a small tree, while the other held another gourd of booze. On seeing us it sniffed angrily.

“I smell my bro’s worthless blood on you, man-thing.” The Oni said. The Red bastard, I presume? “I can’t say I ever liked him, but kin is kin. Even the slow ones have to be cherished.” He showed massive, tusk-like fangs. “A lot of my Oni I can smell on you all as well. A bad day. A bad day indeed. Enough to drive me to drink.” He took a gulp from his gourd, burping noisily. “Well, they’ll all be pissed if I don’t let them watch. We were promised entertainment, so…”

He made no move, neither did the array of yokai all around us in the trees, on rooftops and inside buildings. Along the road behind us I could see the massive cavalcade of the Night Parade coming into view, thousands, tens of thousands strong. Palanquins carried by numerous slaving yokai, carriages pulled by strange horses, massive snakes pulling a house on chains, cages being carried by hundreds of flapping birds and Tengu, rolling barrels and pots and other sights of wonder and terror.

“Not going to run?” the Red Oni grinned. “Well, there’s nowhere to run. Oh, yo. You made it.” He spoke to a smaller but still huge Oni, this one a blue-skinned female, with a colossal chest. She was… oddly attractive, in a feral way, and Eri rolled her eyes at me, even in this desperate situation not liking me looking at other girls.

“Of course I did, ya fool.” Blue snorted. “Ya didn’t have to run off like that. Ya worthless brother, he was dead already, ya get it? Besides, I can smell the curse-stink from here, but…” she wrinkled her brow, thinking.

I’ve nearly expelled the curse, Shaeula too. But Eri… Ether Healing and Chirurgery won’t work, and I don’t know how long it’ll take to diminish. The caster is dead, so I doubt it’s anywhere close to permanent, so every second we can delay is great, but…

“… ya two smell… pleasant.” The Blue Oni eyed Shaeula and I. “Though ya have some strange sweat there.” She observed the black liquid leaking from us. “I think ya need to be careful. Looks like the curse is kind of pathetic, these two nearly got rid of it, ya get me?” she told the Red Oni.

The Parade was upon us, thousands of jeering creatures pulling to a halt a dozen or so metres away. Eri reached out for my hand, taking it, and Shaeula faced them boldly. Of course, her mother might be within the Parade. That’s one thing we can try, but… Yamato was frozen, his mind wavering under the pressure of facing such mighty foes. Tch, useless. Well, Eri comes first. There has to be a way to beak the curse, but… will we have the time or the leisure to do so?

“So, everyone’s here?” The Red Oni grinned, ignoring the blue one. “Well, may as well get started. I’m gonna pull off your arms and legs, then give you to whoever wants you. Toys or food, I don’t care. My bro was slow and ugly, but if I let it slide, well, I’ll be facing off challenges from the lower numbers for months. So, gonna have to make an example.”

“Wait!” Shaeula declared, puffing out her chest, striking a majestic pose. “As the Ninetieth of the Hyakki Yagyō, I demand we talk this out-out!”

There was a moment of absolute silence, all the instruments and screaming chatter stopping, before pandemonium erupted. Well, yes, that’ll buy us some time, I think, but… I’m not sure that was the time to use our first trump card… Watching Shaeula, I continued to heal Eri, the scar in her stomach healing up rapidly. If we have to fight, at least Eri will be able to. But if it comes to Eri fighting, we are already screwed…