Bruised and Broken

Two bodies lay lifeless in the great Summoning Sanctum, though one of them did not seem to belong. The strange hume twitched in agony as it choked for air, as though surprised to still be alive. Tomita Kichiro opened his eyes as the haze of whiskey and passing through death’s veil caused his vision to blur for a moment. As clarity arrived, he began to register his surroundings. Nothing looked familiar. Nothing smelled familiar. He was in a strange room, surrounded by elaborate contraptions the likes of which he had never seen. Breathing in the air, he smelled hints of must, decaying leaves, and rain-soaked stone.

“Owwww…. What the hell?” he murmured as he shut his eyes once more to calm the crushing pain that was radiating from his head.

Reaching up to touch the throbbing area revealed a warm, open wound. His brain was exposed. Tomita let out a shriek of shock, which caused his fractured jaw to come unhinged and flop loosely to his left side. His left arm instinctively moved to support his slackened mandible, but to Tomita’s horror, he found his left arm to be shattered, bent in the reverse direction it should be, and seemingly stuck, hoisted in the air above his head. Now he was screaming, or at least attempting to. Body horror and confused panic forced him to let out a yelp of horror as he kicked his feet in shock. Looking towards his feet brought yet another terror to Tomita’s view. His stomach was ripped open and though his intestines were not hanging out, they were very much visible in the contorted opening. Finally, his right shoe was missing. It was a small horror compared to everything else, but he couldn’t help but notice.

Shock overtook Tomita as he stared in horror at his warped body that was somehow still functioning. Even more confusing was that he did not feel pain from the damage. The only remnant pain he felt was from whatever fiery blue ecstacy had scorched him during the impact. Still, panic was by now seizing the entirety of his existence as he tried to wake himself or accept that he was in some form of afterlife punishment. His gasps of shock were finally enough to cause the body beside him to regain consciousness. Izhari let out a small squeak of agony as her damaged body flinched in residual trauma. Her quiet grunts and whimpers were enough to draw Tomita’s attention to her for the first time.

“MUT TUH RUCK?!!” Tomita screamed as he gazed at the strange creature beside him.

It was slightly smaller than a human woman and had human-like features, but was also distinctly animalistic. Long, wispy ears pointed out from flowing copper hair and white fur. Instead of a human nose, there was something akin to a cat’s nose, including whiskers. Its face was angular, with large, blank eyes that were scarred over with glowing white voids. As it stirred, its hands desperately patted the ground to find the warped branch that was nearby. Tiny claws scraped along the ground as it searched. Damp robes layered over a simple tunic and travel pants, with a handful of vials and pouches adorning the belt and sash that held everything in place.

Tomita pulled himself away in abject terror as the small humanoid creature forced itself to sit and face him. It seemed as though the creature could not see Tomita, but it was looking in his direction after hearing his gasps and screeches.

It spoke.

“Thelvar salla tri’alumé tri’paevorin! Pen’kai sien tri’miraen Pri’ena’vii tri’sohrin drella tua,” it said as it held out its hand in a motion that seemed to be trying to comfort or touch Tomita.

It did neither. Tomita screamed and pulled himself further away.

The creature began to whisper something to itself as a single claw touched its fur-covered throat. Then, a single glowing golden line appeared around the creature’s neck.

“MUT TUH RUCK?!!!!!!!!” Tomita screamed out again.

His scream was ignored as the creature closed its eyes and pursed its mouth to spit. A soft, silky stream of gold fell weightless from its mouth, followed by two more streams that ran from its ears. The streams all converged into a single thread, which then began to float towards Tomita with a concerning intent.

“WHOA WHOA OH OH!!” screamed Tomita as he tried to pull away again, but his broken body gave out and he fell to the floor.

The golden thread struck his throat, and he felt something warm caress his skin. Before he could process what was happening, the other strands snaked up to his ears and mouth and dove into his body. He flinched in terror, but nothing happened. The strands had vanished. His eyes creased open ever so slightly. The creature was close to him but looking past him. It sighed an exhausted, wounded sigh.

“There, you should be able to understand me now, Great Guardian,” the creature purred in a tired yet feminine voice.

“Hooly thit wou’re dalking?!” screamed Tomita as shock returned to flood his body with adrenaline once more.

“I am not holy, but yes I am speaking to you. I have placed The Shared Voice on you. Now we may understand one another’s language with ease,” she said in a calming tone.

“I am Izhari, The Abandoned One. I have summoned you here as my familiar. I need your help,” she pleaded between heavy breaths as her eyes rolled back slightly.

Tomita almost couldn’t respond.

“I’m aslip. I’m aslip... or in ell…” he gagged as his heart rate exploded.

“You aren’t asleep, you are in the realm of Lais. I am a maji and I brought you here. Your speech sounds strange…” said the creature named Izhari.

“By mout and botty har bloken,” whispered Tomita.

“Broken?... Oh… well… hold still I will return your form to its correct self. I’m not sure why that happened. Please forgive me,” said the creature with a tone that betrayed embarrassment and uncertainty.

Tomita couldn’t speak. Thunder sounded from outside, and lightning soon followed. Light from the bursts of energy allowed Tomita to steal another glance at the strange place where he now found himself.

The hall was a massive cylinder, stretching dozens of stories into the air. Gears, wheels, orbs, dials and other devices all hung in the air twenty meters above them, seemingly floating. Decaying detritus lined the edges of the cylinder as though having just recently been blown from the center of the floor. The creature named Izhari was muttering once more and now a glowing red hex of unreadable symbols appeared beneath Tomita.

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa…” he muttered as he tried to crawl, but the glyphs followed him.

More hexes appeared around and above him, trapping him in place. Something unseen felt as though it was scanning his body. Before Tomita could process, there was a snapping sensation and his body was pulled back to its correct state. Wounds sealed themselves shut. Bones reforged. Joints realigned. Vertebrae returned to their correct order. Everything seemed to be fixed. Almost everything.

Izhari slumped forward with a gasp of exhaustion and nearly fell onto the ground. To his surprise, Tomita lurched forward to save her, but she caught herself.

Wonder and dread caused him to pat his body, briefly admiring everything that was fixed. Then his hands touched his head. A warm throbbing mass of flesh met his touch, as well as floating flecks of skin and bone that seemed to be hovering like a macabre crown around the injury. His brain was still exposed.

“AHHHHH!!!! MY GODDAMN BRAIN?!!” screamed Tomita.

His reaction caused Izhari to flinch.

“What? What is wrong?” she asked.

“My brain is still exposed!!” Tomita screamed.

“Your brain?...” asked Izhari.

“Yes! I landed on my head when I jumped, so I must have split my head open. So now my skull is cracked open and my brain is out for the world to see like some sort of omelette!!” groaned Tomita.

Panicked confusion and essence deprivation caused Izhari’s eyes to flutter as she stuttered to speak.

“Aghhhh. This is wrong. It’s all wrong…” sighed Tomita as he started to slap his face violently.

“I’m dreaming. Maybe this is hell. Maybe those Catholics in Chiba were right, maybe suicide is a mortal sin… Shit!!”

“Suicide?... You killed yourself?” Izhari whispered.

Tomita’s thoughts ripped themselves back to the present, and he looked at his strange acquaintance. Her features hinted at signs of desperate concern as nervous pants caused her small frame to rise and fall in quickening beats.

“Something’s wrong…” she whimpered.

“You can say that again!” sighed Tomita.

“Why would I repeat it? It’s not an incantation…” whispered Izhari with a tinge of annoyance.

“It’s a phrase…” Tomita stopped and shook his head as he stood and dusted his pants off.

“Your voice… you don’t… you don’t sound intimidating…” Izhari said in sincere concern.

“Of course I’m not intimidating! I’m five foot seven!”

“I don’t know what that means…” she admitted.

“It means I’m an average height Japanese man!” Tomita groaned.

“You’re a man?! A hume?!!!” Izhari cried in an elevated voice.

Her terror seemed sincere, and acknowledging that she wasn’t human, Tomita realized her question wasn't in jest.

“Yes. I’m a man from Tokyo, Japan, who just tried to kill myself. But when I hit the ground, I wound up here…”

Tears formed in her blank eyes and her clawed hands began to shake.

“No no no no no. Oh no no no…” she whimpered.

A guttural screech tore from her throat that turned into an anguished scream of rage and despair. Her claws ripped into her chest and robe as her eyes clenched shut and tears began to run down her face.

“What?! What’s going on? Just send me back so I can die. Then redo whatever you need to! You’ll get it on the next go! Do your best!” Tomita said with exaggerated waves and claps of support.

Her cries stopped, and a snarl of self-loathing crept through her clenched teeth.

“There is no redo…” she snarled.

Tomita paused in dread at her statement.

“What do you mean?” he whispered.

Izhari couldn’t answer.

“What did you do to me? To us?” he asked.

“A guardian familiar summon is a life bond. There is no replacement or redo. When I summoned you here, I summoned you here until one of us dies…” she muttered through bared fangs.

This didn’t mean much to someone who had already killed themselves once. Tomita looked around and shrugged.

“Well, that’s an easy fix. Give me a knife or something, and I’ll just off myself and be out of your hair in a moment. No harm, no foul. I’m sorry about this,” said Tomita as he scanned the room.

“NOOO!!!” Izhari screamed in terror as she threw herself forward and grabbed his leg to stop him.

“What are you doing?” asked Tomita as the sense of dread built in his chest.

“Why are you stopping me?”

Izhari tensed her face and shook her head in defeat.

“The bond is a life essence bond. If you die, I die too. And vice versa. And I have to live.”

Horror flooded Tomita. Life was supposed to be over for him. He had wanted release. Now, he was trapped in this strange world and being told he was bonded to this cat girl for the indefinite future.

“You’re joking, right?” he whispered.

Before she could answer, there was a commotion outside, and distant voices could be heard. Izhari’s ears perked, and her eyes went wide in terror.

“Oh no no no! How long were we asleep?!” she cried.

“I don’t know! You summoned me here, why are you asking me stuff like I’m supposed to know?!” growled Tomita as he shook her from his leg.

“I barely have any mana left!” Izhair whimpered as she patted the ground for her staff and gear.

Tomita watched her struggle in absolute terror, and a sense of legitimate fear rose in his chest.

“What’s going on? Why are you so afraid?” he asked softly as he eyed the doorway.

“We have to flee this place! Now!!” Izhari cried as she found her staff and forced herself onto her unsteady legs.