“Hell of a fight out there,” Rebecca commented first as Emily and her three Resonators had now joined Shouri’s group in the dugout. The second match of the day was well underway, but the focus was on the first match winners.

“I’ll say… fuck…” Ritika leaned against Emily, her hands still shaking.

“’bout average for us honestly.” Albarich shrugged. He leaned forward, looking around Emily to glare down his fellow Resonator. “I told you I had it.”

Ritika stuck her tongue out. “I can’t have you fight every battle. How am I supposed to get any better?” she protested.

“Drink some more milk beansprout. You Terrans got all this gravity to fight against.” The dragon smirked.

“Hush moon lizard,” she pouted.

“Behave.” Emily pushed her two squabbling Resonators back but rested a hand on their heads and gently stroked their hair. “You both did great. Rest up.”

Emily’s third Resonator sat in the corner quiet, unmoving, statuesque.

“I-is he… uhh alright?” Pacifica asked, pointing at the lonely-looking Resonator.

“Don’t mind Soot. He’s a golem, they’re a mute species,” Emily informed the otter.

“Oh!” Pacifica stole another glance at the artificial man. He smiled and waved back.

“I did teach him Maelish sign language though, so he can at least talk to us that way,” the Maestro added.

To demonstrate, Soot brought a hand up to his chin and waved it forward.

“He says ‘Thank you,’ He probably appreciates your consideration of him,” Emily giggled.

“So,” Shouri spoke up, leaning against the fence directly in front of the other Maestro and her two Resonators. “What’s going on?” His gaze drifted to Albarich.

“It is because of Al, but not for the reason you think.” Emily shook her head.

“We’re popular people, what can I say?” Albarich chuckled.

“Oh stop beating around the bush you two!” Ritika barked. “These morons pissed off a religious cult,” the cat girl informed the uninitiated.

Taika in particular tensed up, balling up her fists. “Quale?” she asked.

“Uhhhh, which one was it again, Emmy?” Ritika asked.

Emily remained quiet for a moment. “New Moon,” she spoke at a breath. Taika shook her head, relaxing slightly. Pacifica of course, caught this but decided now wasn’t the time.

“I haven’t heard of that one,” Shouri commented, pulling out one of his tuners.

“Don’t bother,” Emily cut him off. “You won’t find anything about them on Terran internet.”

“Oh, goody.” Shouri rolled his eyes, returning the device to his side.

“It’s a lunar religion, right?” he guessed.

“You got it.” Emily smiled, though this quickly faded. “They preach about Lunar superiority and such, it’s pretty harmless, though, with any large enough group, there’s bound to be a couple of bad apples.”

Shouri nodded. “So, you pissed off the bad apples?” he took a guess.

“Pattern recognition is a hell of a drug.” Another sheepish chuckle from the other Maestro.

She pulled Albarich close to her – a gesture he didn’t refuse. “They were gonna kill Al, I couldn’t let that happen, so I took him and escaped down here to Terra.” Emily paused, considering her words as she squeezed him tighter. “I never dreamed they’d chase us down here.”

“Those goons chased dumb and dumber into the desert.” Ritika motioned to her Maestro and follow Resonator. “If Soot and I didn’t find them, they’d have been cactus food,” she added.

“Why haven’t you told the cops?” Pacifica wondered.

“Paci, think about what happened to us,” Shouri reminded her.

“Oh… right.” The otter lowered her head, the veil of cop propaganda only recently having been pulled away and their incompetence revealed to her.

Emily and her Resonators’ silence was telling. Just as Shouri and Pacifica’s kidnapper wasn’t caught until they had taken him out, the situation must have been the same for them.

Raising his tuner, Shouri thumbed a message up and sent it away. “Okay, here’s the plan,” he raised his voice, returning the device to his waist with the other two.

“Once our sub gets here, we’re going to pick up your stuff from the MA Office you’re staying at,” Shouri began.

“W-wait, what?” Emily questioned.

“You’re coming to stay with us,” he told her as if it should have been obvious.

“Where at?”

“I think it was called the Villas Fairingway.”

“OH!” Rikita shouted. “That’s like the most expensive hotel in like all of Kalanichi!” the cat exclaimed.

“We can’t afford that!” Emily shook her head upon hearing that.

“It’s fine we’re in the presidential suite, there’s more than enough room,” Shouri shrugged it off.

“Wh-who are you?” the woman questioned.

“Just a guy really.” Shouri shrugged.

“It’s not our suite,” Pacifica chimed in.

“Yeah, Mr. Klein is paying for it,” Taika added with a nod.

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose. “Wait wait wait, ‘Mister Klein’? Like the Klein Foundation Klein?”

“His son specifically - his name’s Elijah and he owes me,” Shouri informed the uninitiated.

Silence

“Seriously, who in the world are you?” Ritika cast a suspicious gaze on their new “ally”.

“I told you, just a guy, I’m no one special,” Shouri replied. “Maybe hopped up on some fox-girl rhythm,” he mumbled under a cough, whilst shooting a glance at Taika, whose tail started wagging as soon as she caught him looking at her.

“Why are you doing all this?” Albarich questioned, his sharp gaze trained on the standing Maestro. “What do you gain from it?”

Shouri shot back a glare of his own. “Well, I doubt you’ll accept that I just don’t want to see a fellow lunar user get harassed.” He paused thinking over a good justification for his actions. “So perhaps making sure one of the top competitors in the tournament is at their peak to give a good performance in the battles ahead?” He studied the wary stares of the trio before him (Soot was indifferent in the corner).

“Ah, teach me that double spell thing you did. That’s totally my reason.” Shouri pointed to Emily.

“Oh, Corda casting? Yeah, I can teach you that.” Emily seemed relieved at this “catch.”

“The truth comes out.” Albarich nodded.

Pacifica giggled, seeing right through them. Ritika rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

With a short laugh, Shouri smirked. “Then it’s settled.”

----------------------------------------

“Normally when you cast spells, you’re casting in what’s called Una Corda, or with one line of rhythm,” Emily began.

The group had arrived back at the Presidential Suite, thanks to Alfred the butler coming to pick them up at Elijah’s request. The Klein heir was surprisingly amicable to the whole situation, the suite rapidly filling with many strong rhythm users. Though at this point all the bedrooms were plenty occupied.

Taika, Pacifica, and Ritika had taken to the kitchen to make food for everyone.

Shouri, Rebecca, Emily, and Albarich were sitting on the ground in a circle in one of the large living rooms.

Soot was just in the corner, being quiet and polite as always. He had been asked what he wanted to do, but he simply raised his thumb, hooked his index finger, and made a small outward gesture with it, the sign for “watch”.

“Most rhythm users only ever need one line of rhythm. You only need one line in like ninety percent of situations,” Emily continued her explanation. “However, your body is more than capable of opening many lines of rhythm to cast on.”

Shouri nodded, stroking his chin in thought. “Yeah, that’s how we can leave spells in Staccato or Rubato. The lines are there and connected,” he mused aloud.

“Exactly!” Emily clapped her hands together, grinning brightly. “Corda casting lets you throw out multiple lines at the same time instead of making them one at a time.”

Something was bothering Rebecca however. “When you were fighting today, you said some weird stuff,” she brought up.

Emily nodded. “Good ear! I was reading both spells out at the same time.”

Thoughtful hums escaped Shouri and Rebecca as they both chewed on that thought. “How? Do I have to remember every combination of spells together?” Shouri questioned.

“Oh, stars no! That would be madness!” Emily chuckled. Though Shouri and Rebecca’s perplexed expressions told her they would not be satisfied with that. She hummed in thought, closing her eyes for just a moment while gathering her thoughts. “You kinda have to split your mind and have each part cast the spell you want,” she spoke hesitantly. “It’s kind of hard to explain,” she admitted.

This only earned blank stares from both Rebecca and Shouri. After a moment, Shouri shook his head. “I think I get it,” he furrowed his brow, not sounding confident in that claim.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“There is also a Resonator component to it as well,” Emily advised. Rebecca flicked her ears at attention. “Since you’ll be getting two strings at once, you’ll really need to be ready to receive it. It’s hard to pull off in actual battle,” the blonde Maestro explained.

Rebecca slowly nodded. None of her previous Maestros had used this technique (at least with her). It wasn’t a sensation she could claim any familiarity with.

“Do you two still want to try it? We can start at Due Corde,” Emily offered.

Shouri and Rebecca shared a glance, in unison they nodded. Emily’s eyebrows perked up, her jaw catching a little slack.

“Okay, what do we do?” Shouri asked. Rebecca seemed to stumble, as if she had to bite her tongue, a reaction not missed by the other Maestro.

“Shouri, think about both spells you want to cast. Since we’re not in a casting range try to pick two support spells if you have them. Build up the rhythm and then just let your body do the rest,” Emily instructed the other Maestro.

“And for you,” Albarich addressed Rebecca. “Brace yourself, yer gonna get hit with a ton of rhythm at once.”

Closing his eyes, Shouri focused on the two spells that came to mind.

Famiglio Incendio – the summon spell

Fuoco Fatuo – the tiny firelight spell

Both were nearly harmless and would be perfect for practicing this technique.

“Okay, got it, let’s give it a shot.” Shouri kept his eyes closed. His hand wrapped around Rebecca’s tuner.

He had to merge these two spells, but she said his body should do the rest?

“FamiFuglico FIncetuodio , Presto!”

Instantly Shouri knew he messed it up. He could feel his lips moving incorrectly, the strain on his vocal cords was the most apparent as they struggled to make the unnatural sounds asked of them. The biggest tell came from the actual act of spellcasting; the rhythm pulled from him was uneven despite both spells being cast by the same modifier. Even so, he still linked with Rebecca as if nothing was amiss.

“ERK!” Rebecca grunted. She knew it wasn’t right upon receiving the rhythm. She did get the rhythm, but it was as if she had gotten a corrupted text file: none of the words made sense and as a result, her body had no idea what to do with the confusing foreign rhythm. As such, her body just let it go and no spell-casting happened. At least it didn’t hurt.

“That’s good!” Emily cheered despite the result.

“Hrm, how do you figure?” Shouri spoke raspily. He opened his eyes, mouth in a hard line as he rubbed his throat. Rebecca took up his free hand and squeezed it tightly, his lips curved up ever so slightly.

“It took me at least a couple hours of practice to even get the rhythm to flow,” Emily informed them.

“I suppose,” Shouri mumbled.

“You’ll know you got it right when both spells flow together seamlessly.” To demonstrate, Emily took in a breath and spoke.

“Riflettore(Nuvola) Musicale,(Oscura,) Pianissimo(Presto).”

Shouri and Rebecca simply stared, hearing both spells being overlaid atop each other as she cast them was jarring, if they listened closely both spells were there. It was as if someone recorded Emily reading both spells individually and played both tapes back simultaneously.

Albarich received his Maestro’s rhythm and with a wave of his hands came two spells – a cloud of smoke Shouri recognized, Nuvola Oscura. The second spell projected a shield of purplish light in front of Albarich’s open palm. Rebecca recognized it as Riflettore Musicale, the shield spell the dragon had used earlier in the day to reflect Flavien’s ice spells when he had attempted to flee the battle.

“Sotto,” Emily canceled the two spells, dissipating the smoke cloud and barrier that had invaded the suite.

“Practice makes perfect,” Albarich shrugged.

“Very true. We messed it up a ton before we got it right,” Emily giggled.

“I guess we’ll keep practicing at it.” Shouri glanced at Rebecca, who nodded in agreement.

“Great! One thing to keep in mind, you can’t Corda cast with re-cast modifiers like Staccato or Rubato. It’s one-and-done casting only,” Emily advised.

Shouri nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.

It was at that point in the practice session that the absent trio of girls returned. “Lunch is ready!” Ritika announced, carrying a tray of baked goods.

“Hope we’re not interrupting,” Pacifica added, also carrying a tray, but one filled with drinks.

“We might have made too much,” Taika chimed in, carrying yet a third tray with even more food on it.

Shouri hopped to his feet with Rebecca. “No, right on time,” he told them.

“We just got the basics more or less,” Rebecca added.

“Bene! Eat food then!” Taika set her tray down on one of the large tables in the room. The others followed suit and soon the group surrounded the table (minus Soot who remained watching in the corner.)

“He good?” Rebecca asked the golem’s Maestro.

“Totes! I just need to give him rhythm, which I usually do while sleeping.” Emily told the curious fox.

“Oh, I see.” The vixen nodded slowly.

“Here.” Emily turned her head. “You good over there?!” she shouted to her Resonator. The golem responded with a thumbs-up.

“See? Totally fine.” Emily giggled.

“Yeah.” Rebecca chuckled to herself and focused on the food.

And so, the remainder of the day went on without much fanfare, the group relaxing and intermingling with each other (except Soot, who remained content to sit in a corner and watch.)

It was peaceful, and through the rest of the day, Pacifica could sense Emily and her Resonators slowly relaxing; a long, heavy weight being eased from them.

Elijah and Colette returned at around six in the evening.

“My goodness, this place is quickly becoming inhospitable for me.” Elijah chuckled, though he was unable to hide how uncomfortable the thick rhythm in the air was to him.

“I warned you,” Shouri commented.

“That you did,” Elijah replied with a nod.

“D-do we need to leave?” Emily questioned.

The Klein heir shook his head. “Not at all Miss ‘Ayame’. After all, someone of your status rightfully belongs here.”

Shouri raised a brow, but before he could question the nature of Elijah’s vague words, Emily’s trio of Resonators were at her defense, standing protectively around her and glaring daggers at the other man.

“Relax yourselves.” Elijah’s gaze shifted to Shouri. “He wouldn’t have brought you here if he didn’t feel you were safe. And if I tried to pull anything shifty, he would be at your defense as well.”

Uneasily, Emily looked at the green-jacketed Maestro. “…who are you…?” she whispered.

“That being said, we need to talk. Alone.” Elijah looked to Shouri. “You too.” He motioned to Emily as well.

“Your Resonators will need to stay here,” he added.

“Absolutely not,” Ritika spoke up.

“Yeah, what the heck?” Rebecca joined the conversation as well.

“While I would like to include the Resonators in this discussion, it must be done discretely. So much so I have prepared a room with Ceoíche shielding,” Elijah stated grimly.

“What!?” Shouri gasped.

“Y-you’re serious…?” Emily too was shocked.

Colette hummed and frowned, but didn’t say anything.

“What am I missing here?” Taika asked.

“So you know the Vatonium stuff that shields the casting ranges at MA Offices?” Rebecca asked.

“Yeah, it absorbs rhythm so spells don’t go crazy or something right?” the lunar fox recalled.

“Ceoíche cages are a more intense version of that. Not only do they absorb rhythm, they actively pull and distort it,” Pacifica chimed in.

“Prisons are usually full of them, leaving Resonators as helpless as Maestros,” Ritika commented.

“Resonators grow ill very quickly within Ceoíche cages,” Kaira spoke up as well.

“Oh…” Taika lowered her head.

Elijah nodded, acknowledging everything that had been explained as fact. “It’s the only way to be sure our conversation will not be overheard. You can never be too careful, especially…” he trailed off, considering his word choice for a moment. “-when a certain group is involved,” were the words he decided on.

“And I need to be there?” Shouri questioned.

“Very much so, it involved certain other things you have been involved in,” the Klein heir smirked knowingly.

“Oh boy. Here we fuckin’ go.” The brunet rolled his eyes.