A Flare for Aid

"HEY! Was it you who fired the flare?" shouted the man who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"Yes, our healer was injured, and the Whisper got out. Do you have a healer?" asked James hurriedly.

"Yes, I'm on my way," said a man in his thirties with a rather youthful face as he approached Emilia, who was still being held up by me. "You can let her go. I'm going to need her to be still," the man said as I lowered Emilia to the ground. "It's a shame about your clothes," I murmured.

"It's not serious, don't worry," she said, sitting up and pointing to the cut behind her right heel.

"Was that an Assassin's Whisper?" he asked, turning to James, who confirmed it.

"Alright, everyone stay on guard while the healer does his work," said the leader of their group.

"You know it's going to sting, take this and put it between your teeth," he said to Emilia, handing her a piece of soft wood.

As the healer began to place his hand a few inches from Emilia's wound, a green glow appeared.

As I watched Emilia's flesh tremble, she began to moan in pain, clenching her jaw and growing paler and paler.

"Hey, don't worry, it's almost over," I said, putting an arm behind her shoulders to support her, unable to do much more.

"The truth is, it's going to take a while for the tendon to heal, so keep gritting your teeth," the man said in a deep, focused voice.

"What's your name? Mine's Arthur," I said, trying to distract Emilia.

"Enty, but please don't talk, I need to concentrate..." he said quietly.

"O-Okay, no worries," I replied as some of the group laughed at the interaction.

It took at least five minutes for the wound to heal, with Emilia enduring the pain all the while.

"It's done," Enty sighed, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

"Thank you, Enty," Emilia said sincerely.

"It's normal for caregivers to stick together," Enty replied with a smile.

"Are you a healer, Emilia? Not an archer?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, I'm mainly a healer. The bow is just to fool the enemy, though I do know how to use it."

While everyone remained on guard, the leader of the other group said, "The Whisper must have escaped. We'll have to alert the army and the association. How did you know the Whisper was here?" he asked, turning to James.

"Thanks to this," said a man from their group, pointing to the two unrecognizable bodies.

"Oh shit!" muttered the Chief as he approached with his team following close behind. "We'll have to report that as well... Did you see what the Whisper looks like?"

"No, we only know it's an assassin-type Whisper based on its movements and probably level E or D," James said.

"Alright, we'll take care of the rest. You're free to go, but keep an eye on the news before you try to return to the park. It'll probably be closed for a few days while an investigation is carried out," the Chief explained.

"Very well, thank you for your help," we all said as drops began to fall, as if the weather was warning us it could end badly.

The way home was gloomy; no one wanted to go to the coffee shop, including me. Nina was glued to Emilia, apologizing a thousand times for not being there, and Emilia kept reassuring her that it was okay.

When we arrived at the arch, sheltering under a roof overhang, James spelled out his phone number for me as I wrote it down on my notepad, followed by Emilia and the whole group.

When I finished writing down all their numbers, I said, "Okay, I'll probably stop by a phone store on the way to buy one and add you all before tonight."

"Do you know how to get to your apartment?" he asked, seeing that I was without a phone.

Which made me feel a little lost because I only knew the name of the street, and with the weather turning bad, there weren't many people on the streets. "To be honest, I only know the name of the street, but with so few people, it's going to be difficult to ask for directions."

"No, don't worry," he replied, taking out his cell phone.

Apparently, I had been walking in circles to get here, because I wasn't that far away—just a ten-minute walk. As everyone went their separate ways and said goodbye, I found myself walking in the same direction as James and Emilia.

"Ah, looks like we're going the same way," I said.

"Yes, I live a little closer, so I'd drop you off first, but Emilia lives a little further away," he replied.

"Do you know where there's a cell phone store?" I asked.

"Not near my apartment... But I think if you make a small detour in front of yours, there is one."

"We'll take a look around, and I'll give you some advice. I know a bit about it," Emilia suggested.

"Let's do that," I said, giving a thumbs up.

What we didn't notice was the look on James' face, full of surprise, as he looked at Emilia, who pretended not to see him.

"Well, this is where I live," he said, pointing to a rather affluent building at a fork in the road.

"See you then!" I said, waving.

"See you later," Emilia said and did the same.

As James made his way home, we headed to a phone shop called SamHwei. When we got inside, the store had a minimalist look, with simple tables covered with cell phones and large televisions showing advertisements for their devices.

"Do you know what you want or not?" she asked.

"Not at all, to be honest. I've never bought a phone because I was given one, so I don't even know the prices..." I said, scratching my neck.

"It depends on your budget: you have phones like Galaxys, where you need a good budget, or less powerful ones like Blockberrys that will do the job since you don't seem to use them that much..."

"Let's go with something that's not very powerful. I don't think I'll be using it much, just sending messages from time to time," I said, leaning over to look at the phones.

"You're right, let's just get something practical. If you want, you have these—they're really only good for messages, but for other things, they're really not great..."

"Yeah, it's really not appealing..." I said as she agreed. "At worst, I'll set a limit of 200 credits, and you try to find the best at that price, because I don't know anything about it..." I continued.

"For 180 credits, you can have mine... It works well and looks good," she said, handing me her phone.

"Yes, okay, let's do that," I said as we called a salesman to get everything done in five minutes.

"There's no SIM card?" I asked myself as I turned the phone to find a slot.

"A what?" asked Emilia, not understanding.

"Surely it doesn't need a SIM card," I said, looking at the phone and wondering how to respond.

"Nah, I was just wondering if there was any other protection, so if I dropped it or something..."

"Ah yes, come have a look," she said, leading me to the back of the store.

After buying a navy blue case—it was still a pretty old phone, but it would do—I arrived at the front of my house and said goodbye to Emilia. She called out to me.

"Hey!"

"Yes?" I said, turning around.

"Thanks for earlier, by the way," she said, her cheeks flushed.

"Don't worry, we're even. I save your life, and you forget how I wasted my lunch, okay?" I asked her, laughing.

"Deal!" she said as she walked away, waving goodbye.

When I arrived at my apartment, kicking off my shoes after such an eventful and emotional day, I found myself lying in bed, exhausted, staring at the ceiling.

As I hesitated to fall asleep, my stomach reminded me that I'd emptied it earlier, so I got up to have a bite to eat and then sat back in my chair, feeling that calming sensation as I pressed the power button on my computer.