Shouri sat in an interrogation room for the third time since he started his journey. He had been stripped of Vii’s tuner, and the make-shift bag from the plane after a very rough pat down. At present he was alone. Thankfully he had been allowed to keep his jacket as the room was a touch bit chilly by his own admission.

Some time passed, the measure of which was unknowable to the boy. He came out of his thoughts when the door finally opened and a bird woman walked in. She had striking blue feathers, with matching eyes and a pointed yellow beak. She was clad in a blue suit and was carrying a clipboard in one of her wings.

“Shouri, right?” her voice was gentle, sweet like candy.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“Nice to meet you Shouri, I’m Lily, Subterris Investigation Department.” She held out a wing for him.

The Maestro was surprised – Lily seemed to be quite fluent in Maelish. He studied the anatomy of the bird woman and noticed odd digits from her wing, they were so flush that he didn’t realize they were essentially her “fingers” in a sense. With some awkward maneuvering, he managed to complete the “wing shake” she had offered him.

“Very good.” Though her beak didn’t give a direct smile, Shouri could sense it from her speech.

Investigator Lily began to flip through the pages on her clipboard, reviewing the data she had been provided. After a moment she laid it down on the table and folded her “hands”, resting them on top. “Now Shouri, let me start with the question on everyone’s minds: what is a Maestro doing here in Subterris?”

Shouri mulled that question over, deciding how much he was willing to divulge. After careful consideration, nothing was stopping him from the simple answer: everything. Naturals didn’t communicate with Riterrans. That was a fact. So even if there was some grand conspiracy involving Feroce, he was safe to at least tell Lily.

So, he did. He explained Feroce in very simple terms, then went on to explain the kidnapping, the plane crash, their traversal through the savanna and to get to Subterris, capping off with the small time they had spent in Southern Subterris.

The only thing he omitted was Vii’s mysterious transformations. He didn’t understand how or why she shifted her forms so frequently.

“This Feroce sounds quite concerning,” Lily noted.

“Yeah, not a fan,” the Maestro replied.

The bird woman nodded, stroking her beak thoughtfully. “What are your plans from here?” she questioned.

“My goal is to make it through Northern Subterris and exit out near Alspo. I want to get to a Maestro Affairs Office to reach my friends and find out what happened,” he laid it out exactly as he had plotted out in his mind – he had zero reason to hide or lie about his intentions.

Again, the bird woman couldn’t smile in a human way, but Shouri could tell that’s what Lily was doing as she spoke. “Certainly, I’m sure they’re worried sick.”

His gamble paid off – Lily definitely had a strong emotional stave. Being able to read people’s emotions while interrogating criminal suspects must be a valued skill as an investigator, more so than being logically minded or as stubborn as a rock. “I think that’s all I have for you sir, thanks so much for your help.”

“Wait, what happened?” Shouri asked.

Lily seemed surprised by that question. Her eyes fell on the paperwork laid in front of her. After a moment of rumination, she plucked a set of pictures from her clipboard. “Do you recognize these people?”

In the five splayed-out photos, there were the five Naturals who attacked them yesterday.

Shouri nodded slowly. “Yes, those are the five I told you about.”

“That’s what I thought.” Her expression clouded. “They were discovered last night in their homes, nearly on the brink of death.”

“What.” Shouri’s eyes widened. “I- we didn’t-!”

Lily raised a wing and shook her head. “No, I believe you. I know you didn’t.” Her gaze returned to the pictures. “They said they were attacked by a Lunar element. But that Vii Resonator, she’s a water element.”

“Correct,” Shouri replied flatly. He focused on the pure logic of that statement, masking his now incredibly complicated emotions on the matter.

“There might be something more sinister lurking out there – perhaps that organization that is after you. Please be careful.” Lily paused, considering her choice of words. “You’re a really good kid, I know it.” Another birdly smile.

“I appreciate that,” Shouri mumbled.

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Shouri left the confines of the interrogation rooms and found his way back to the lobby. The side-eyed glares from the various officers as he walked through the building were annoying but ultimately harmless.

“Shouri!” Miro hopped up from the bench he had been waiting on and rushed over to the Maestro.

“Are you doing okay?” the Fox-Natural asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Shouri replied, looking around the lobby. “Where’s Vii?” he asked.

“I am not sure. When I was let out here you and her were still gone,” Miro informed the Maestro.

“Hmm…” Shouri’s gaze fell to his side, which currently lacked any tuner – they hadn’t returned any of their possessions yet.

“I guess we wait,” Shouri shrugged, before taking up the bench Miro had previously used. The fox-boy nodded and took a seat next to the Maestro.

The pair sat in silence for a small bit before Shouri spoke up: “Did they question you too?”

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“Si. Just wanted to know about the guys that attacked us yesterday,” Miro recalled. “What did they ask you?” he turned the question on the Maestro.

Shouri grunted, thinking back to his conversation with Investigator Lily. “She wanted to know why I was here.”

Miro stroked his maw in thought. “Maestros are very rare sight down here.”

Silence once more. Time passed with Shouri eventually getting up and starting to pace from boredom. What he wouldn’t have given to have some good old-fashioned internet access at that moment in time.

The false otter appeared before the pair after some time, escorted by an officer. “Eccoti le tue cose.” The officer handed off the bag and tuner to Shouri. With a short nod, they left the trio to their own devices.

“What happened?” Shouri questioned Vii immediately.

“They just asked me some questions, no big deal.” Vii shrugged nonchalantly.

“No. I am referring to yesterday afternoon. When you left on your own.”

The playful look on Vii’s face faded, her expression melting into a scowl as she met Shouri’s glower, brimming with yellow logical rhythm.

“Tch. You knowledge types are always so nosy,” Vii spat. Her gaze darted to the side.

Recognizing this wasn’t the right place to have a whole interrogation, Shouri glanced at Miro. “Let’s get to a hotel,” he quietly requested of the earth fox, who nodded.

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Shouri stood in front of Vii, who sat on the small couch in their hotel room. Miro stood off to the side, silently watching what was about to happen.

“Alright, now that we’re not standing in a police station: what the fuck did you do?” Shouri glared at the false otter.

“Hoh hoh… using your stern voice, I’m so scared,” Vii chuckled.

“Answer the question, Vii.” Shouri was not fazed by her flippant attitude.

“Do you really want to know?” She grinned toothily.

“I wouldn’t be asking otherwise.” He stayed steadfast.

She hopped to her feet and approached the Maestro. Shouri remained wary, stepping backward away from her advance.

“I can be anyone, anything, and I chose your Resonators,” Vii began.

“That’s a whole other topic – what did you do to those Naturals?” Shouri ground his teeth, losing his edge as he retreated from the fake Resonator.

“You ever wonder why? I could be literally any Resonator, but it’s yours I’ve chosen,” Vii continued.

Shouri tripped on the bed behind him and quickly pushed himself back.

Vii crawled onto the bed. “They aren’t particularly strong, I have stronger Resonators in my repertoire, but I wanted you to be comfortable while we worked together.” She continued her approach.

The Maestro hit the headboard, whipping back in surprise at the sudden obstacle. Before he could consider his next move, he was pinned.

“It’s you. It’s all you. Ever since I saw you that day, I had to have your rhythm. I had to make you mine,” she whispered.

His voice was stuck in his throat, but he managed to shake his head.

“Come on, just make me yours. I want to be yours. I promise I’m on an entirely different level than them.” Her words were soaked in her stubborn willpower, wrapping around the boy’s rhythm like a chain.

“Let me end this façade, I want to take off this mask,” Her lips drew close to his. Shouri was powerless to stop her.

Thankfully Miro wasn’t.

“Basta così!” Sand wrapped around Vii’s waist and yanked her away from the Maestro as if she had been lassoed.

Shouri grabbed his rapidly beating heart. “Th-thank you Miro,” he mumbled his appreciation.

“Tch,” Vii glared daggers at the Earth Natural, who was more than happy to glare back. With a flick of his wrist, several gemstones began to hover around his raised paw, spinning in a quick orbit.

Even if Maestro-cast spells dealt bonus damage to Naturals, Resonators didn’t have any resistance to Natural spells – they worked with the same efficacy as if cast by Scherzando or other Resonators.

Despite getting smacked around by the other Naturals yesterday and being so demure – Miro radiated an intense aura of rhythm.

“Fine,” Vii acquiesced. She turned her reluctant gaze to Shouri. “They tried to hurt you. So, I made them hurt,” she told the Maestro without an ounce of remorse in her voice.

Shouri’s eyes widened; it was what he had suspected but had hoped he was wrong about. “Did you-?!”

“Kill them? Do you want me to?”

“No! They were already scared of us! You didn’t need to hunt them down!” Shouri shrieked.

“You’re too soft,” Vii smirked. “Animals like that need to hurt, they need to know their place – that’s the only way they learn. The strong have to crush the weak, otherwise they get stupid little ideas in their head.”

Clunk!

Vii’s currently blue tuner lay on the ground, having been thrown in front of her by Shouri. “Get out.” The boy pointed at the door, his gaze a mixture of fear, disgust, and anger.

The smirk faded from Vii’s lips. “You won’t survive.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Get. OUT.” Shouri’s voice was firm, his glare wrathful. It was taking every bit of remaining willpower to be this civil.

The false otter shot a glance at the Fox Natural. “You let him die and I’m coming after you,” the fake water element growled at the Earth Element.

Miro just held his gemstone spell in place, continuing to rotate it around his paw.

Snatching her tuner off the ground, Vii did as she was instructed and left the hotel room.