Touch of Fate

Chapter 144: Aftershocks

After a few minutes, the building stopped shaking. Mike stood from his position on the floor of his bedroom, underneath a fallen dresser, and checked on Audra. Reassured by the curious chirp she emitted from the depths of his pocket, evidently woken by the strange rumbling, he tried to take stock of his surroundings.

He coughed to clear his mouth of the dust that was filling the air. "Is everyone alright?"

Brenden called from the hallway, "I'm good. Legs just feel a bit rubbery."

"I am fine, and you better not come in here!" Sera yelled from the bathroom.

Tal's calm voice could be heard coming from the kitchen, "Assistance requested."

Mike made his way over to her, and was a little shocked to a portion of the roof had collapsed onto the elf, pinning her to the floor. The debris looked stable at the moment, but he lacked the experience to make a definitive guess. Knowing that this situation could end badly if he wasn't careful, Mike cautiously lifted the chunk of wood and plaster until the elf could pull herself out.

She gasped slightly in the process, and Mike quickly noticed the reason as he was lowering his burden back to the ground. A splinter of wood, the size of a small knife was embedded in the muscle of her left thigh. Judging from the amount of blood pooled on the floor and flowing from the wound, it had hit an artery in the process.

He hurried over and had Tal lay back on the ground. He was going to have to remove the shard, which was going to be painful, and the last thing he wanted was for her to pass out in the process and give herself a head injury. Considering how pale she was getting, it needed to be sooner than later.

"Alright, I'm going to pull it out really quickly and heal the wound. I'm not going to lie, it will hurt." He spoke as reassuringly as he could manage in the circumstances.

A soft hand was laid against his cheek, causing him to look up from the injury. Tal was looking at him steadily. She appeared calm, even to his practiced eye. "It's alright. Trust you."

Mike was momentarily taken aback. His expression must have been terrible if she was trying to console him. He took a deep breath, gave her a grateful nod, and got back to work. Finding a solid grip on the splinter, he started summoning his mana in preparation for the healing magic he would need to perform immediately afterwards.

With one quick motion he pulled the shard of wood out, eliciting a second gasp from Tal. He focused on applying the healing and, after a sudden burst of inspiration, added a layer of Lifestyle Magic to clean the wound in the process. A few seconds later, there was nothing left of the injury save smooth, unblemished skin.

He heaved a sigh of relief. This was not the first time he'd used healing magic on someone seriously injured. Hell, he'd even technically brought someone back from the dead. But this was the first time he'd used it on one of his companions, and it shook him.

If that roof had fallen in a little differently, or if he'd still been gallivanting around in the merchant district, Tal could have died. The logical side of him knew that it was unreasonable to hold himself accountable for such an instance, that whatever was happening was beyond his control, but he couldn't help but feel some responsibility.

A quiet voice, in the depths of his mind asked, [Would there even have been an accident if you weren't here? Would things in this country be as bad as they are if you hadn't made that wish? Aren't you to blame for this? Aren't you to blame for everything?]

Someone patted his head, breaking him from his dark thoughts.

"Thank you." Tal said quietly with a subtle smile.

For a moment, Mike's head was blank. Then he became intensely aware that he was still holding onto Tal's thigh while they were in a highly compromising position. Brenden's cough from behind was all it took for the embarrassment to take hold.

He quickly stood, before helping Tal up. "Yes...Well, I'm glad you're alright."

"Hmph!" Came Sera's exclamation from the hallway. She had folded her arms and was facing away grumpily.

Brenden shook his head, "Anyway, if you are done flirting, maybe we should consider moving down to the ground floor. If the roof can cave in, that could mean the dorm's structural supports are unstable. I, for one, don't want to get caught in a collapsing building."

"Agreed. You three head down first. I'm going to sweep the floors as I go, to make sure no one else is trapped." Mike replied while getting ready.

Sera turned as if to make an argument, but evidently thought better of it. "Alright, be safe."

"Move quickly." Tal added.

With Brenden in the lead, the three of them headed down the stairs. Luckily, the earthquake damage hadn't extended to that portion of the dorm.

Figuring that Lily and her butler were probably durable enough to survive for a while, he headed over to the other side of the hallway first, only to find the other two rooms empty. Evidently, their occupants had already evacuated. Since he didn't see any more debris that might be hiding an injured person, he returned to his neighbor's door.

It was closed but unlocked, so he thrust it open, only to be engulfed in a wall of acrid smoke. Coughing, he channeled a quick burst of Air Magic to clear it, flushing it through the shattered windows at the end of the hallway. It looked like something had caught fire in the room.

Moving into the apartment, he heard a series of coughs from a doorway to his right. Lily's butler William was on one knee, catching his breath in the now clearer air. Mike hurried over to help the man, but was shaken off.

"I'm fine," the older man wheezed. "Please, help Lady Liliana."

Seeing the desperation in the butler's face, Mike couldn't refuse. "Alright, but you need to get out of here."

After seeing the nod of confirmation, Mike headed deeper into the apartment. Noticing smoke wafting out from under a door, which should be the bathroom, he braced himself and pushed it open. A wash of fresh heat and smoke blasted into the hallway, until he was able to flush it out again.

Quickly scanning the room, he saw that it had been converted into a makeshift laboratory. A large supply of gear and reagents were scattered about in a seemingly haphazard fashion. A table had been set up along one wall, which was the origin of the fire.

Blue flames rose from a shattered collection of glassware. The wall above the table was scorched and blackened, as the fire spread. At the rate it was going, it wouldn't be long until the roof started burning as well.

He willed the fire to extinguish itself, before flushing the remaining smoke out of the room. Scanning his surroundings, and located the still form of Lily in one corner. Judging from her positioning, he figured the earthquake must have caused an explosive accident which flung her across the room.

He rushed over and started applying Healing Magic. Her arms and torso were covered with burns, which mended quickly, leaving him holding a well-endowed woman, whose only clothing was the tattered remnants of a pair of coveralls that bare extended past her waist. Distracting as this was, he did his best to concentrate on the task at hand, since his patient still wasn't breathing.

[Twice in one day? I hope I'm not developing any other luck related abilities. I don't think I can handle it. Anyway, she must have inhaled too much smoke. Crap, how do I do CPR again? WaitAir Magic, of course.]

Summoning his mana, he forced the stale breath out of Lily's lungs and replenished it with a fresh air. While maintaining his concentration on the process, he stripped off his outer tunic and draped it over the woman's still form, leaving him in his undershirt. Audra pushed herself out of her pocket, and hopped up onto his shoulder with a little squeak of protest.

Recalling a little from a CPR class he'd taken in high school, Mike took a second to check on Lily's pulse, and was relieved to feel it beating strongly. After a few more cycles with his newly developed application of Air Magic, she sat up suddenly and started coughing.

Once her breathing had steadied, she looked around confusedly for a moment, before focusing on Mike. "Oh, hello. You're the boy from Alchemy class. What are you doing here?"

Mike suppressed a chuckle at her nonchalant reply. "I'm here to help. It looks like something you were working on caught fire. I was checking on everyone after the earthquake, and found you unconscious."

With a look of horrified realization, she stood abruptly. "Ah! My experiment!" She exclaimed before rushing over to the table, dropping his tunic in the process.

Sighing, Mike picked up the discarded garment, and while trying his best to avert his gaze, started speaking, only to be interrupted by William rushing into the room.

"Milady! You are alright, thank goodness!" The butler had tears of relief forming in his eyes for a second, before it was replaced with a scandalized look. "Ah! Just look at the state of you! You know better than to walk around like that."

"But William, everything I was working on went up in smoke." Lily replied in a despondent voice.

Her evident depression clearly had an impact on the old man, as he replied in a consoling manner while draping his coat around her shoulders. "I know, Milady, but such things can be replaced. You, however, cannot."

Feeling slightly awkward about still being in the room, Mike started sliding out surreptitiously, only to accidentally step on the blackened remains of some kind of bulbous root. It created a cracking noise which immediately grabbed the attention of the rooms other occupants.

"Sir Mike! I was so distracted with Milady, I almost forgot you were here. Please accept my deepest apologies and greatest thanks for your timely aid." William exclaimed dramatically.

"Don't worry about it, I was doing what any good neighbor would. Anyway, it looks like there might be structural damage to the building, we should evacuate, just to be on the safe side." Mike replied, trying to change the subject.

"What about the rest of my equipment?" Lily asked. "I can't just leave it here, it represents years of my work."

William looked torn. He clearly understood the danger, but seemed unwilling to push her mistress into pursuing the more reasonable course of action.

Sighing, Mike pulled out his extradimensional pouch. "Alright, what are you unwilling to leave here?"