Chapter Five: My Dear Emperor, You’re Putty in My Hands!
I reached for the emperor’s back, which was feverish and dripping with sweat. I inhaled sharply. The slightest contact with my fingertips was nearly enough for my mana to be dragged out of me. His magical exhaustion was worse than I thought.
“Sai…?” Crouched on the ground, the emperor looked over his shoulder at me. His eyes were listless, his awareness already half gone. “…You’re pl…anning…to direct…ly…trans…fuse…?”
I smoothed my hands along either side of his spine, checking his bones and muscles. Other than his wings, his anatomy seemed to be the same as that of a normal human. Okay. I can go ahead then.
“Your Majesty…” I paused, switching to a chant. “Emperor Haruka. Please focus on my words and yield yourself to them.”
I loosed a long exhale, then breathed in. The Wagtail Priestess’s mana was rooted in my abdomen. I released the plentiful energy swirling in the depths of my stomach and guided it to my palms. Returning them to his back, I pressed my hands against him. I started with a single, short burst, pushing mana into him fiercely as if to pierce his body with it.
There was a loud crackle as a flash of light illuminated the cave. The emperor let out a tortured wheeze, and his back convulsed as though he had been electrocuted. His huge wings flapped wildly, rustling noisily in protest.
As I avoided being shaken off by their movement, I continued to weave words of power. “You must be suffering; your body is burning up. But it is all right now. I shall handle the heat in your stead, Emperor Haruka. Please concentrate on the place of our connection. Yes, my palms are your ice—”
The flare of energy wisped into embers, small and delicate like fireflies. The mana that I drew out from my core poured into the emperor’s back, my fingers the medium. I focused all my attention on my task so it could fully permeate his body. Taking one deep breath after another, I braided more words into my incantation.
Then, while whispering into his ear, I slid my fingers down his back. “Frosty like a winter’s night with snow twirling in the air as far as the eye can see, my fingertips are icicles against your skin… Can you feel my palms touching you, moving from your shoulder blade to your spine?”
Breathing erratically, he managed a small grunt.
“Please take deep breaths. And slowly, match the movement of my palms…”
The moment those words left my mouth, I could sense my mana being violently siphoned from me. I bit hard on my lip, suppressing a scream—it was almost as if my organs were being sucked away with it. But the man before me was suffering far more than I was. Inside the glare of rushing mana, I gritted my teeth.
Once again, I tugged energy up from the base of my belly, then caressed his skin. My hands glided from the nape of his neck to his shoulders, before I enveloped his collarbones with my palms. My fingers swept from his shoulders to his shoulder blades, traced down his spine.
When I touched the most febrile area, the base of his wings, the emperor made an anguished sound, a scream nearly tearing from his throat. His back spasmed.
Naturally, the person on the receiving end of a torrent of mana would also be experiencing quite a shock. Perhaps trying to endure his urge to lash out in pain, he dug his nails into the cave earth. Before he could hurt himself, I freed one hand and held his.
His mouth opened in another silent scream.
“Everything is all right. I will make it not hurt. You will feel good very soon,” I said from behind him.
“Ah… Ugh…” He gasped for air.
My left hand draped gently over his as I slipped my right hand across his back. I leaned my face forward toward his sweaty neck and, brushing his hair aside, brought my lips closer to his ears. I murmured, “Breathe in, breathe out… Just like that, Emperor Haruka. With every breath, my mana turns into a chilly air that circulates around your body, from your back to the tips of your toes, and all the way to your head. I am sure you can feel the frost flowing through you. Can you feel my fingers, frigid like icicles? My touch is cold, and…you feel good, right?”
Gradually, his wings began to calm.
“The icicles will eventually melt into a clear stream, like snow thawing tenderly in spring… And now, Emperor Haruka, you are letting yourself float on the water’s surface. The stream cools your body pleasantly, from the tips of your wings to their base… Soon the season embraces change as winter storms become spring thunder, and a lukewarm rain pours down over the land… A pleasant numbness spreads through your body, relaxing it.”
His ivory hair clung to his skin, sticky with sweat. The scale of his pain had to be unimaginable. As his wings gradually shrunk to their original size, I could feel his fever abating as well. Noting his response, I nodded to myself. I can heal him like this.
“Your Majesty, please slowly turn your attention to your body. Please feel the vibrations of my voice against your earlobes. And please—recall the shape of a human form without wings.”
I repeatedly stroked the base of his wings to soothe them, and they folded up sluggishly as if they had fallen asleep.
The emperor lifted his eyelids and sent a fleeting glance in my direction. “Sai…” His eyes were vacant, yet there was life in them.
I nearly burst into tears of elation, but it was too early to celebrate. I gave him a reassuring smile and softly patted his wings. “We are nearly there, Your Majesty. Close your eyes—feel my fingers brushing across your skin. Notice the humidity of the cave. The smell of soil. The sound of rain. Your five senses are working…and you have the body of a human.”
His back was white and smooth, and I rubbed it, following the contours of his muscles. Frantically, I searched for the hidden mana meridians underneath his skin and repeated my treatment as I trailed along them.
“Mhn…” His body slowly went slack.
Though he was graceful and delicate in appearance, his back was solid and firm. He probably utilized his entire body to bear his wings, on a daily basis. The more prominent one’s muscles, the easier it was to pump energy into them. It seemed that I no longer needed to use magical intonation.
“You are nearly there, Your Majesty…”
My vision swam, almost as if from blood loss, yet I resisted the wooziness that came over me and flooded him with mana until I reached my limit.
Everything abandoned me. The destiny dictated by the plot of the game, then the reality I lived in. But this man picked me up and pried my life away from the clutches of death. He placed faith in my dignity as the Wagtail Priestess. And…he saved me, in spite of the danger he faced.
“I promise… I’ll try to save you, Your Majesty… No, I will save you…!”
Too much mana had drained from me, and my fingers were beginning to twitch. But I didn’t care. I continued to transfer my power to the emperor.
My life belongs to him, and I will use it for his sake.
Rain still fell outside, a silent watcher accompanying us the entire time.