“I see at least someone here is capable of recognising my brilliance.” Shaeula said, staring at him. “No, indeed I am not a mortal such as you. I am a noble princess of the Seelie, a Fae. We dwell in what you would call the realm of the divine-divine.”

“That… is not possible!” one of the other priests denied it, leaning forwards against the wind. “Kami, yokai, spirits… there have been times when it is recorded they have walked the soil of mortal Japan, yet only at times of a rare alignment with the divine realm, and often lasting but minutes or at best hours. No spiritual being could walk around like this for days, going about their business as a normal human, to say nothing of them displaying such power! It goes against everything we know!”

“You would ordinarily be correct. However thanks to the master whom I have shared Oath and Boon with, Akio here, I can walk freely on the Mortal plane, unlike my kin who can manifest for but moments on the conjunction of the moon and tides-tides.”

“And what of you?” Kana-chan’s grandfather asked me. “Are you a human, to be the master of such a being?”

“Of course.” I laughed self-depreciatingly. “Up until just a few weeks ago I was as ordinary as the next person. Of course, now things have changed. But that is getting into the topic of the things we need to discuss carefully.” Tapping Shaeula on the shoulder I asked her to calm down, which she reluctantly did, the verdant glow dying down around her, the wind ceasing. “I think you’ve made a breakthrough haven’t you? I guess you won our bet after all.”

Shaeula nodded, eyes bright, though the amber fires within had died down. “Indeed you are correct. Not only has my mastery of the wind increased, my ability to generate it has grown by leaps and bounds as well-well! I believe I have reached a clear new level in power!”

“Well, since we’ve demonstrated what we can do, maybe we should all relax and talk about things calmly. The White Snake has offered us support, and so we would like your support too. In exchange we have agreed to help the White Snake as well.”

“I agree. Let us all regain our calm and discuss this carefully.” He gestured to his priestly colleagues.

We all took our places again, everyone looking at us with scared eyes except for Kana-chan, who was looking at Shaeula with something like awe, and her grandfather and another man who bore a resemblance to Kana-chan. Perhaps her father?

“All right then. I suppose I had better start from the beginning. Though of course, I expect that this information will be treated confidentially?” There was silence again, except for Kana-chan’s Grandfather, who agreed. “By the way, my name is Oshiro Akio. What would you be called, honoured priest? I can’t keep referring to you as Kana-chan’s grandfather.”

“I am Izumi Masaji. You may call me that, I have no objection. Now if you would begin.”

I began by explaining about the arrival of Exposition-san and my first journey to the Boundary, and briefly about the opportunities and possible dangers, without going into too much detail, especially about how my powers worked. Everyone was listening in strained silence, except for Izumi-san and of course Kana-chan, who was looking at the box I had placed beside me as I sat down.

“So, you are saying this… Boundary… is the realm where spirits and gods reside? And you can enter it freely?”

“Well, I have to gather aether first, although I have quite a few advantages compared to you in that regard.” I replied. “I won’t go into details right now, but once the required amount is gathered my spirit enters. I call this my Astral body. Damage dealt to it is reflected on my Material body, though the effect is muted, so a deep cut might be merely a shallow wound. Still, damage to critical areas could probably still kill me, such as the heart or the head…” despite myself I shivered. Beside me Shaeula patted my leg reassuringly.

“I would hear more of this … Exposition-san you spoke of. He said he was choosing heroes. Is our Great White Snake-sama involved in this?”

“He said he was not. Most likely it would just be the great Creator Gods from Japan who are selecting them. Though if what Exposition-san said was true then I wonder if they are purely gods of Japan, or even this world. That was the impression I got, that our world is only now becoming connected to others…?” That point had only just occurred to me, but it seemed persuasive. “Of course, I can’t discount the fact that I’ve been lied to. Though there is definitely a lot of truth in it, after all…” I gestured, and the coin I had taken from my pocket soared into the air, remaining steady for several long seconds before falling to the ground. “… I can do this now, and Shaeula stands by my side. But I’m an adult, so I can’t deny the possibility that the truths are only there to hide the lies.”

There was more silence and uncomfortable looks being exchanged. I had been talking for nearly an hour, with only brief interjections from Izumi-san to break my flow, so I was feeling rather drained.

“So, I have two questions that need answering.” Izumi-san said, after some thought. “The first is, do you feel it was one of our Gods that has chosen you?”

At that I shook my head. “I doubt it. I have no way of knowing for certain, I’m hardly an expert on the divine after all. I am as pious as the average Japanese person, despite being a half, but that leaves large gaps in my knowledge. But if I had to say what decided me… it’s the terminology. Ether, Aether, The Astral, Silver Cords… they seem rather more Western in origin. While that isn’t a guarantee, I feel if the god involved was Japanese they would be talking more about spiritual power, as you do.” Chakra theory seemed to fit it as well, which is Eastern, but not Japanese, though the version that Shaeula knew is not suitable for humans to use…

Beside me Shaeula voiced her agreement. “The Boundary, or the Astral is but a few of many names for the divine realm, or the land of twilight. The court of the Seelie travels freely, so we have met many peoples calling it many things, but the name does not change what it is.” She smiled at me rather fondly. “It is as Akio taught me. Elemental wind is but a different name for the element of the moving invisible air that surrounds us. What a thing is called does not change what it is, but it does speak about the one who calls it by a name-name.”

There was another long silence lasting minutes before he spoke again. “Very well, my second question, and perhaps the more important one. Why would you continue doing this and risk your life as a so-called ‘hero’? Is it for the power and rewards?”

I scratched my head, looking wry. “That’s a really good question. I ask myself that a lot too. At the start it was more for a bit of excitement, you know. I led a pretty boring life. I got by on doing freelance IT work. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t… fulfilling, you know? But then I discovered that I could gain power that anyone would envy, and that was great too. I mean, if you put me in a ring with a professional boxer now, I’m pretty sure I’d win easily, which isn’t bad for a pasty computer nerd, right?” Seeing the hard looks in the eyes of the priests I continued. “But now it’s more than that. I fought Shaeula as enemies, but now we are partners working towards our goals together, and I promised to keep her safe. And I can’t do that if I stop now.”

“Oh, could you explain that?” he asked.

“Well think about it. I’m not sure how many people the Gods have selected, and I doubt they are common, but there will no doubt be others in the Boundary fighting and gathering strength. Any one of them could come across Shaeula and her kin and kill them for ether. Or do worse…” I shuddered. “To say nothing of the consequences in the real world. Not all people are virtuous, hell, I know I’m not perfect, I want power and fame as much as most people, but if an evil person was to get a hold of such power… imagine it. I daresay if I had a weapon I could kill every man here and do what I wanted with the women…” as the temperature of the room dropped again and the shrine maidens stared at me I hastily spoke. “… not that I would ever do such a thing, but there are likely those that would. When I think of Shaeula, or my sister, or Kana-chan over there, being subjected to the whims of the powerful… I think power counters power.” There was more to it of course, but there was no need to explain about the worries of those from other worlds invading further down the line, when the ‘newbie protection’ Earth enjoyed wore off. If the Earth truly was in as much danger as Exposition-san said, I felt I had to step up. With great power comes great responsibility after all, as a wise man once said. That day I wished I had the power so that my sister and Eri-chan didn’t have to cry. Now my wish is coming true, abandoning that chance would be a mistake…

The silence was now uncomfortable, stretching out painfully. More time passed and I was about to speak when suddenly the curtain burst open and the shrine maiden from earlier, Keomi-chan, burst in carrying several large bags, followed by the other maiden who was panting with exhaustion, carrying more. “I’ve got all the cake! Thanks for your generosity, mister!” she said brightly to me, only to grind to a halt as everyone in the room turned to stare at her.

For a long moment, the scene persisted, Keomi-chan getting redder and redder, shrinking in on herself. “Uhh, sorry, was this a bad time?” she said faintly. Damn, that’s pretty adorable. I was about to speak up when Kana-chan suddenly burst out laughing, shattering the quiet.

“Oh my god Keomi-chan, you are so stupid.” She practically howled. “But your timing is perfect. I’ve been dying to try the cake in that box for an hour now. My grandfather and the other old men are thinking way too hard about this. I don’t think big bro is such a bad guy, after all, if a woman as pretty as Shaeula stays with him, human or not, then he can’t be all bad. Now let’s see what we have…” she hurried over and opened the bags, crowing over box after box of expensive cake.

A different sort of tension was running around the room now, the girls eyeing the cakes. With a chuckle I threw my hands up. “Why don’t we all take a break, have some cake and then start over. Maybe when we’ve had something sweet we’ll be more in a mood to discuss things?”

“I desire alcohol.” Shaeula declared. “It goes well with sweet things-things.”

Some of the bolder shrine maidens had clustered around Keomi-chan and the other one, so the stillness was banished. Passing the bag I carried to Shaeula I looked at Izumi-san who nodded.

“Very well, we will take a short break. I dare say I can find some ceremonial sake and beer if I look hard enough.” As he stood he looked at me, his eyes hard. “I am not entirely satisfied with your reasoning, and I cannot be sure of just what our Great White Snake-sama intended when he asked us to call you, whether it was to join you in an alliance as you claim, or to warn us against you and these other ‘Astral Emperors’ as you called them. But one thing I do know is that whatever the answer, we cannot go into this situation ignorant. If the Gods truly are trying to save the Earth, then we must answer their wishes.”

“That’s true.” I agreed, watching the gaggle of girls attack the many cakes Keomi-chan had purchased. “The times are changing, and even if we do nothing, that won’t halt it. All we can do is adapt, and do the best we can to make sure the times change to better ones.”

“Well said.” He agreed. “In times of change great opportunities lie…”