Chapter 2: The Sun

Curse attacks and healing time were built into Rainy's daily schedule. Every country needed their own adjustments but for Japan…

Rainy breathed in and dabbed her wound with alcohol. She sucked her teeth and fanned the area as if the burning were actually physical.

Japan needed an entire new system and she didn't have enough lives to properly get around making it work.

Her best running shoes didn't take her far enough, the protective charms that hung from her neck became useless rocks, even getting the ultimate authority in positivity in the tarot deck, The Sun, failed to bring her enough luck to stop those disgusting beasts from approaching her. Not to mention her Familiar only had enough room to consume one of them in a day at best.

The fae had to concede she was barely winning these battles and at this rate, the war would be lost.

She called it quits on the sanitation process after the first dab. Even if it sped up the process slightly, Rainy didn't have the courage to go beyond that first jolt.

"I'm really sorry!" Rubi nudged a new roll of bandage with her black paw. It fell from the couch and rolled down the wooden floor until it reached the carpet. "You hadn't summoned me so I thought you extended your vacation."

Rainy reached into the wicker basket and grabbed a new roll. "I met a sorcerer yesterday." She pointed to the spot where she needed the cat to hold the bandage for her while she worked up her arm. "Got to walk home undisturbed for once."

Today she almost died trying to buy ingredients for her barrier two blocks from her home.

"Last night felt like the first time I tried chocolate as a human…"

Bliss

The Familiar shook her head and removed her paw. "I told you to stay away from this place."

Rainy pulled the bandage a little tighter as she worked her way up. "I know."

"It's a haven of curses and you've spread your powers too thin."

"I know."

"You know so much and yet here you are looking like some dog's chew toy every other day."

Rainy breathed in. Either the top of her ulna or the bottom of her humerus peeked through the little muscle left there. "My only direction in this seemingly aimless hell is the dream Mother gives me during the opening of the Ethereal Gates."

"The other country was Sweden!" Rubi shot back. "They're small, quaint, and barely have anything more dangerous than a flyhead."

All very good points. "But the second dream was the most detailed. For the first time she didn't just give me hints about a country, she showed me a very specific area."

Rubi shook her head. "At this point I'm questioning if she just wants to kill you."

The fae fastened the end of the bandage and rubbed her eyes. "Sometimes I wouldn't even mind," she admitted. "If I die I will reincarnate as a human. But at least I get to go to the Ether at the end of every lifetime. I'll still see Mother and the other lineages…"

"Oh Rainy, no…"

The gentle wind carried the scent of blooming mums from the gardens a few floors away. Sometime in the past week the multicolor bunch had been switched out to the yellow and orange tones in anticipation for the upcoming Autumn equinox. The new hues played nicely with the sunny days this week had to offer.

Rainy closed the window and pulled the curtains in. Maybe tomorrow she could appreciate the way the world looked so joyful. Today, she just wanted to mope in the darkness.

"Sadness is very heavy on the soul, and I need to ease mine with these kinds of thoughts every once in a while." She threw herself back onto her bed. "I'm not giving up on everything. Just on today."

Rubi snuggled next to her.

"Mother didn't bring me here to die. I'm going to find that God and talk to them, or kill them, or do whatever I have to do to undo this curse. And that man from yesterday, he can help me."

Rubi's head perked up. "You can force him to protect you!"

"No, no, I need to save that favor for when I have to hunt for the Blue Lotus. He has strong Earth elements in his soul. Money will be enough to form a contract."

"Huh, this sounds… Promising?"

Hope felt strange to both of them.

"Exactly." Rainy smiled. Maybe a little sunshine had clung to the darkness around her. "I think our time is finally coming."

[2]

"So as you can all see, the numbers speak for themselves. Dedicating an entire department to accommodating our elderly customers is the future for this company."

Excited murmurs and glances filled the conference room. Specs of sun wrapped around diamond brooches and pricier rings as they all shifted in their seats, giddy for more.

"And not just the ones with fat bank accounts, we need to pour our interest in the ones with cash under their mattress! Nanami, you're free to go."

Even with his papers stacked neatly in folders in preparation for his exit, Nanami didn't reach the doors quick enough.

"Joseph here will be in charge of establishing a strong relationship with a retirement home that will allow us to financially educate our guests…"

Nanami shut the door as the foreign floor manager sauntered to the front. Still, he heard it as he waited for the elevator. How the stupid presentation he'd poured his weekend into would be used to "reach a new market".

Rob them.

They planned on robbing elderly customers who oftentimes didn't have the mental capacity to fully understand what they were getting into. They did it to young people fresh out of university, desperate couples who wanted to set a good foundation for their future, eager entrepreneurs with a desire to make their mark but lacking capital…

Educated investors were their smallest share of customers. He exclusively handled those types of accounts, and his seniority managed to give him that perk, but he knew what happened behind closed doors…

Nanami joined the after work crowd, sticking to the slower lane while he swiped through his phone. A tiny flutter of hope brought about a rare smile.

The surprise deposit worth a month's salary still sat in his bank account days past the initial transfer. Safe to say, it wouldn't go anywhere. Even safer to comfort himself with the idea that he could retire one month early from his shitty job.

He breathed out. At least the day was over.

"Nanami-san, good to see you again."

Oh fuck me!

A disappointed breath released mechanically through his lips. "Did you follow me?"

"No." But she was now.

He didn't feel that dread from their first meeting. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there was a chance she couldn't actually manipulate his soul just by knowing his name. She couldn't even fight a low level curse on her own. Her powers were obviously limited by the human body's inability to digest ethereal energy.

"I don't think this is a coincidence."

"Your name gives me access to your soul. That's not just good for forcing favors, it also allows me to know components of what makes you, well, you. And you, my friend, have major Earth energy holding up the broken pieces of your soul."

Of course she would know. "My ascendant is in Taurus." The last person to care about that was Yu.

"Oh look at that! Point is, it makes you quite predictable."

He did enjoy his routine.

"And all that to say, I've seen you take this way home for months. I knew I'd catch you around here at this time."

The walk home felt like a strange trip down every occult book and movie he indulged in during his lonely teenage years. Planet placements, houses, and all the other little components that made up a birth chart surfaced from the forgotten box in his mind surprisingly intact.

Teenage Nanami would have considered himself so lucky to have met a fae in real life…

"This human body of yours has Mercury in Gemini, doesn't it?"

And yet adult Nanami had already digested all the excitement such a meeting awoke in him.

She beamed. "Feels good to finally talk to someone about actual souls."

"What do you want?" His Mercury rested in Cancer. Unlike her, unnecessary conversations didn't hold his interest.

"Protection."

He sighed. The money was good but not worth the stress of putting his life on the line for. It was the exact same reason he'd left that job in the first place.

"I'm not a sorcerer, but I can direct you to some people who would be more than happy to have a fae on their side."

"That's great!"

"Here's the contact info-"

"No, no, I mean it's great you're not a sorcerer. Those people get political and ethical and I don't want to deal with that."

Not that he blamed her.

"You like money, I have money, it's so much simpler. Come on, set your rate."

"I don't want to deal with curses."

"$20,000?"

"I have a job and I'm busy most days-"

"$30?"

"My free time is really important-"

"$40?"

His mind savored the number for a moment. Almost half a year worth of work. A few years added to his retirement living if he found a place with a low enough cost of living. A surprise bonus that could fill the empty conversational void between him and his parents when he saw them for the wedding…

"$100?"

He stopped to the annoyance of the crowd walking behind him.

She moved to the alleyway and he followed.

Was his life worth 100 grand?

"Per job?"

"Yes."

"Where would you even get that type of money?"

Maybe…

"American and European real estate, investments, and other fun ventures. I'm only staying here two more months." After, she hoped to be back in the Ether.

Worst case scenario she still had to move to another country. But at least she would be done with this country.

Rainy pulled out a folder from her tote bag. "I figured you wouldn't just believe me, so how about looking over my financial records over dinner?"

Author's Note: Thank you for reading!