“What can we do you folks for?” Vii asked, in front of Shouri and Miro. They had moved to an alleyway between two large buildings where the foot traffic was quieter. Five Naturals of various elements, species, and statures barred the way out of the alley.
One of the five gathered Naturals pointed at them. “You leave,” the largest of the five spoke in broken Maelish.
Miro stepped forward, approaching the other group of Naturals. “Questi non hanno fatto nulla di male!” he spoke up for his new friends, pleading their innocence.
“Sono venuti qui,” one of the other opposing Naturals stated simply, shaking their head.
“E questo è un reato?!” Miro snapped back in their defense, barring his fangs
“Si.” The lead Natural, a dragon-man towered over the much smaller fox boy.
“Non è giusto!” the earth fox barked.
“Voi non capite cosa stanno escogitando.” The dragon ground his teeth.
“Non hai nemmeno provato! Sono brave persone!”
THWACK!
Shouri’s eyes widened as Miro was kicked for his trouble – a solid blow to the jaw, sending him flying into the brick wall. He slumped over, shaking from the shock of the strike.
“MIRO!”
The dragon turned to the Maestro and Resonator who remained. Shouri’s head was lowered, hand gripped tightly around the black tuner, his knuckles white, trembling.
“Give the word.” Vii wore a wicked smirk, licking her lips as she stared down the five opposing Naturals.
The group of Naturals prepared spells of their respective elements and launched them at Shouri and Vii. Five spells came at them, basic spells of Fire, Earth, Nature, Lightning, and Water. Shouri’s head rose to meet the magic coming their way, his eyes glowing with bursting yellow rhythm.“Magifiamma, Legato!” the Maestro fired off.
Vii snapped her fingers and seven balls of purple fire formed, five of which whipped out of orbit to intercept the opposing attack spells. With the clash of the five orbs with the five spells, Vii kept two balls of fire, while the opponents’ attacks were entirely nullified, leaving the Naturals speechless.
Taking in a deep breath, Shouri belted out his next command: “Fissare la Ombra, Moderato Staccatisimo! Bury them!”
“With pleasure!” Vii began her counter-attack, waving out a hand.
Miro shook his head and pushed himself back to full alertness. Just in time to witness the fight starting in earnest. The throbbing pain in his mouth dulled, but his eyes widened at the sight he was beheld to. This… was a Maestro. This was what real power looked like.
Hundreds of pitch-black arrows hung in the air, awaiting their caster’s direction. This wall of certain death formed in no time flat, completely taking the wind out of the attacker’s sails. The hunters had become the hunted in an instant.
“Run piggies,” Vii whispered.
The opposing Naturals did not understand the language she spoke, but they felt it. The five turned and ran, screaming for their lives.
However, Vii knew not of mercy – with a mental command the army’s worth of shadow arrows tore loose from the alleyway and traced the shadows of their assailants, sticking in and holding them in place in the middle of the street.
“Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato,” Shouri cast.
“Hahahaha… HAHAHAHA!” Vii cackled maniacally (unnerving poor Miro in the process). “You’re a REAL MAESTRO SHOURI!” the false fox screamed as her hand flew skyward.
The five Naturals could only watch in horror as a massive ball of ice formed in the air.
Even Miro wasn’t immune to the intimidating gesture as the asteroid grew larger and larger. Was he about to witness the end of Subterris right here and now? Surely, he hadn’t misjudged these people? He pushed himself to his feet and rushed back over to Shouri.
Gravity took over and the massive space-rock began its descent. Screams of terror echoed from all around as now regular citizens were fleeing from the spectacle. Miro too let out a distressed cry and shook Shouri’s side, pleading in frantic Naturalian, unable to remember any Maelish at that exact moment.
Through it all though, Shouri remained calm, his expression neutral. “Sotto,” his voice, though quiet, broke through the chaos.
Before the gargantuan attack spell could even harm a single brick, it faded away, leaving sparkles of icy blue rhythm fluttering down from above. The arrows that bound the five Naturals to the ground also evaporated. They didn’t move from their spots, quivering in fear of their near-annihilation.
Vii stood over their fallen foes. “Riprovaci, e non lo fermerò,” she sneered; her rage palpable.
They didn’t need to be told twice, scrambling to their feet and running down the street screaming for mercy.
“Whew,” Shouri let out a tired sigh. He knelt next to Miro and looked him over. “Are you okay?” the concern in his voice was palpable as he looked over the part of Miro’s jaw that had been struck.
“S-si…” The earthen fox blinked in shock, pushing a few tears away.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Thinking it over though, these people were insane in comparison to Natural spell-craft. Fireballs that negate other spells, a cloud of shadow arrows that could blot out the sun, and a meteor that could have destroyed their entire civilization. These were incredible feats, and Shouri effortlessly cast them.
Miro thanked the divines that they were on his side.
----------------------------------------
There was a noticeable shift in attitude from the citizens of Southern Subterris after the events of the morning altercation.
“Naturals cannot cast Ossia Spells.”
That bit of trivia from Vii put things further in perspective for Shouri. Lunar magic already didn’t exist to Naturals. On top of Magifiamma and Loro Formato Lunare Lago being some of the stronger Ossia spells – they must have looked like monsters… no demons casting such magic.
Shouri could only assume the rumors being spread about them already. Talks of demons in human skin coming to exact their revenge on Naturalian society. Or something like that. He did lose his cool for a second after Miro got hit for standing up for them. Shouri meant to just send a message to those five but foolishly got caught up in the moment.
Didn’t help that he had a soft spot for the meteor spell. Squishing Scherzando with a big dumb rock was so easy. It wasn’t clean, but man did it get the job done every time he used it and by his admission was satisfying as hell. That being said, it wasn’t his intention to spook the unrelated citizens, but the damage was done. All they could do now was try to reach the other end of Subterris as quickly as possible. Maybe after that, their exploits would just become another urban legend.
Hopefully.
“I got two rooms for us like you asked,” Miro’s voice stirred Shouri from his thoughts. A paw was extended out where a key lay.
“Thank you.” Shouri accepted the key.
The two stood there for a moment in awkward silence. It was clear Miro was shaken up. His ears were folded back, and his tail wrapped around the inside of his left leg, his other paw gingerly nursing the blow he took. After Shouri took the key the fox Natural held himself, averting his gaze from the Maestro.
“I’m sorry Miro,” the Maestro apologized. “I was never going to allow anyone to get hurt, I just wanted to make sure they wouldn’t come after us in the future,” he explained. Miro nodded slowly but kept his gaze away from the Maestro.
It hurt. “I know what my rhythm, especially spells can do to Naturals. I really didn’t want anyone getting hurt,” Shouri paused for a moment. “Even them.”
Another slow nod from the earth fox. “I understand,” Miro spoke. “You are good person,” he decided.
“Is that how you actually feel?” Shouri questioned.
“I do,” though he said this, Miro’s expression remained conflicted.
Pacifica could have easily diffused the situation…
But she wasn’t here…
“Right,” was all Shouri was left with. He missed his Resonators. “Thank you for the key,” he added. Miro only replied with yet another slow nod.
With that the two parted ways. Shouri made sure to avoid the hotel lobby. They didn’t need to know a Maestro and Resonator were staying there. They would be gone in the morning anyway.
He silently hoped Vii would show the same discretion when she returned. She suddenly left saying she was going to look around, but she would be back when she finished her reconnaissance.
Speaking of…
Vii (Taika)
Status: Ready
Rhythm: 47%
Heart Rate: 90 BPM
She wasn’t hurt or anything. Her heart rate was pretty low for someone walking. Maybe she was just in shape? It was hard to tell when she was borrowing others’ appearances. Every detail of her guises was flawless.
It just reinforced his feelings that if he didn’t know the difference between her rhythm and her victim’s, he would have had no clue she was disguised. It was a horrifying thought.
He wasn’t her Maestro for real, so he was in no position to stop her from leaving and doing whatever she wanted.
CLICK CLUNK
He opened the door to the room they were staying in. It wasn’t shabby. Perhaps a bit old-fashioned and a slight downgrade compared to the amenities offered at the MA Offices he frequented.
But a bed was a bed and he wasn’t about to turn his nose up at a place to rest.
Flopping down onto the freshly laundered sheets, the young Maestro stared at the ceiling blankly. He couldn’t be sure how much time had passed, but he remembered he needed to tell Vii where he was.
Thankfully he had a way to beam the communication straight into her head, no matter where in the world she was. Drawing the tuner from his side, he pressed down one of the three grey buttons, hesitating for a moment before he spoke.
“We’re in Room 137,” were the words he decided on. He pivoted to the listen button, but all he got back was silence.
“Hrm,” he frowned at the quiet device.
Eventually, he released the button and allowed gravity to take his arm and the tuner with it, sprawled out on the bed.
“This sucks.” Warmth streamed down the sides of his head as he closed his eyes.