“What’s up Sho?” Pacifica’s voice drew Shouri from his thoughts. It was around midnight or so, leaving the two all alone in the common room of the Orvata MA Office.
Shouri had been glaring at his tuner for some time before the otter’s arrival. “She hasn’t texted back,” he muttered.
Pacifica sat on the arm of the recliner Shouri had sat himself in. “Colette?” she guessed.
“Yeah, I texted her as soon as I got my tuners back, but it’s been all radio silence,” he spoke quietly.
“She and Kaira went back to Lyreann to warn Dr. Vim about the two robot girls,” Pacifica informed her Maestro.
“Elijah informed me as much.” Shouri nodded slowly.
He couldn’t hide his concern, not from Pacifica. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I think Ilea Vim is in on whatever scheme is going on. I think he’s the ring leader here,” he laid out his theory for the Resonator.
“Do you think-?” Pacifica didn’t need to finish that thought. She could sense the conviction of that belief. She furrowed her brow, the puzzle pieces slowly falling into place until-
“Wait! That means-!”
“Something happened to Colette.”
Pacifica jumped up from the seat. “Shouldn’t we go help her?!”
Shouri returned her concern with a frustrated glare. “I want to… so badly, but I- we…” He ground his teeth. “We’re not strong enough.”
“But last time they jumped us! If we go head on-!”
“Pacifica, you don’t believe what you’re saying.”
The water element trembled. Even she was this easy to read. She hugged herself, curling in slightly. “It was so scary. I was standing there and then suddenly it all went black. I didn’t feel a thing.”
Shouri stood up.
“Not even Taika or Rebby could do a thing against them. And now Colette, she’s gonna-” Her eyes suddenly widened as she was enveloped in warmth. Shouri held her.
“I know. I’m scared too,” he admitted on a breath. He squeezed her tighter. “I’m so fucking scared of losing you all again.”
“Sh-sho…”
“That’s why I want us to go see Sarayul. If Taika can control her ad-Lib that’s just one more tool we have to fight back with.”
“I hope she’s okay.” Pacifica rested her head on her Maestro’s shoulder, allowing the tears to flow.
“Me too Paci.”
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Night passed to morning and with it, the group’s departure from Orvata.
“We didn’t end up seeing any other of those guild peoples,” Taika noted as they boarded a much emptier ferry.
“Good,” Rebecca grumbled to herself. Shouri placed a hand on the grouchy fox’s shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly.
“I’m sure they were just busy,” the Maestro addressed his other fox.
“More importantly!” Pacifica declared suddenly. “It’s Water Hero’s Day!” She stood akimbo before her traveling party.
“Indeed, it is.” Shouri raised a brow. The look in Pacifica’s eyes – it didn’t ease his heart rate; it did the opposite. “What do you want?” he braved asking, knowing full well that he would regret it.
The formerly proud otter threw herself onto her knees. “Let me swim the strait! Please please please!” she pleaded loudly.
Shouri let out an exasperated sigh. “Pacifica I-”
“PUHLEEEEASE SHO! I’LL BE SAFE I PROMISE!”
Despite the lack of crowds on the ferry, there were other passengers and they were giving the Maestro the stink eye.
“You did this on purpose you-” Before he could scold his otter for her clearly planned theatrics, the peanut gallery watching increased in numbers. Too many eyes on the Maestro made him fold. “Fine. But I’m leaving the listen button on,” the Maestro capitulated to his otter’s wishes.
Her eyes shimmered with excitement. “Thank you, Sho!” In an instant, she was on her feet and hugging the life out of him.
She released her dying Maestro and ran towards the side of the boat. “I’ll see you there!” She shouted before jumping over the railing and diving into the depths.
“She’s gonna get herself in trouble, isn’t she?” Rebecca asked.
“Probably,” Shouri wheezed.
“I think we can trust her,” Taika chimed in.
“I guess someone has to be optimistic,” Rebecca muttered with a roll of her eyes.
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Nothing quite beat the open sea. Especially a sea as warm as the West Trimare.
Fisher of the Sea, Pacifica’s species trait, gave her a boost in her swimming speed and enabled her to breathe underwater for much less rhythm than other water Resonators required. As such she mostly stayed underneath the waves and took in the sights as she zoomed along.
Much faster than any boat, she shot through the water like a bullet, allowing her to take a winding path and really take in the undersea flora.
Vast swaths of the seabed were covered in fields of seagrass that swayed in the waves. Pacifica swam down to the underwater meadow and laid down in it, enjoying the motion of the waves and the grass underneath her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to relish in the moment. A shadow being cast over her snapped the otter out of her relaxation. It wasn’t a boat overhead or cloud cover, but another swimmer; one curiously staring at the traveler.
Pacifica stared back, eyes widening as she realized something grand about the sudden newcomer.
The lower half of their body did not bear the bipedal structure Pacifica had – this girl only had a tail, one covered in blueish-purple scales ending in a large fin. The mystery girl smiled and bolted for the surface. Pacifica spun around and pushed off the sea floor with her legs, catching up to the other girl right as they surfaced.
“Hey there!” Pacifica greeted her fellow water element. “I’m Pacifica, nice to meet you.”
“Hi Pacifica, I’m Brizo,” replied the girl in kind. She lifted her arm above the waves, showing a strange creature wrapped around her wrist. It was a creature bearing a bulbous head, two large blue eyes, and eight long arms covered in suction cups. “She’s my Maestro, her name is Della.”
Della released one of their eight tentacles from her Resonator’s wrist to wave to Pacifica.
“It’s nice to meet you too!” Pacifica smiled. Her heart hammered from sheer excitement. She couldn’t believe her luck!
“You’re a Mermaid and Octopus pair, right?” the otter couldn’t help but asking.
“We are! We were out for a swim and noticed you all on your lonesome,” Brizo told her. The mermaid glanced down at her invertebrate companion. “Della has never seen an otter before and wanted to meet you,” Brizo added.
“Lucky! I’ve never seen a mermaid or octopus before.” Pacifica beamed. “This is my first time in the Trimare, is that common here?” the otter queried.
“I think so, we live in a little village about a twenty-minute swim away,” the mermaid explained.
“I’d love to visit, but my Maestro is waiting for me.” Pacifica pointed north towards the coast.
“It’s okay! Another time,” the mermaid said with a smile.
And with that the two parted ways. Once the mermaid was out of earshot Pacifica began swimming in circles. “I met a REAL mermaid!!” she exclaimed. The overly excited otter did several more circles, a dive, and then shot out of the water, getting some impressive air before zooming towards her destination at triple speed.
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“SHO SHO SHO SHO!” Pacifica hopped back and forth on the dock, shouting to the boat where her Maestro was arriving.
No one else on the dock dared stifle her excitement – it was Water Hero’s Day after all and the sea water-laden girl was very obviously a water element.
The gangplank was dropped with a loud thud and the few patrons of the ferry began to de-board the ship. As soon as Pacifica caught sight of her Maestro, she ran to him and hugged him tightly spinning the two of them before she held him out at arm’s length.
“Sho you’ll never guess-!”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“You met a mermaid and her Maestro,” Shouri cut her off at the pass.
“But HOW?!” the otter shrieked.
“He left the listen on,” Taika informed her.
“He told you that before you left, remember?” Rebecca raised a brow.
This did not deflate the otter’s excitement, however. “She was so pretty and cool!”
Shouri patted her on the head. “You can tell us all about it on the train, we’re on a time crunch,” he told her gently while checking the time on one of his tuners.
“Oh boy.” Rebecca realized what the Maestro had done.
“What’d we miss?” Emily and her pack of Resonators joined the group.
“Shouri signed us up for a dramatic re-telling of Pacifica’s Bizarre Adventure,” the fire fox told the other Maestro.
“Oh how wonderful, maybe she can tell us more about that mermaid that was mentioned.” The Luna native clapped her hands together at the revelation.
With the entertainment for their trip decided the group set off for the train station on foot.
“Come on people, don’t lag behind!” Shouri barked to the eight-strong group.
“Why the rush?” Pacifica asked as she matched gait with her Maestro.
“We have a leeway of like maybe five minutes – it’s a sixteen-minute walk to the train station, and our train leaves at 12:13 PM – It’s 11:50 right now,” he told her as he power-walked towards their destination.
“Sho ho fame…” Taika whimpered from behind.
“I’ll buy you lunch on the train just please don’t fall behind,” The Maestro told the whining fox.
Taika lit up at the proposition of whatever vague concept of a meal was waiting for her. The hungry fox took her place on Shouri’s other side, opposite Pacifica, staying in line with the two of them.
Emily giggled. “They’re so funny,” she commented while watching their antics unfold from behind.
“I don’t think we’ve known peace since meeting them,” Albarich complained.
“You say that like we were living the slow life before.” Emily wagged a teasing finger at her dragon.
“We were certainly more ignorant of the bigger picture,” the lunar dragon conceded.
“We’re about to lose them in the crowd,” Ritika pointed out.
“Shoot!” Emily picked up the pace, her trio following close behind.
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“Alright, let’s properly compare notes so we’re all on the same page,” Shouri began the train ride. They ponied up the extra cash for a private cab which would seat the eight of them and provide relative privacy.
“Ho fame,” Taika whined.
“Give them a bit, they’ll bring us lunch,” Shouri reassured the hungry fox who nodded eagerly.
“According to the information the Klein Foundation procured from the VdV, I wasn’t the only target – you were also being targeted.” Emily lowered her gaze, grinding her teeth. “I should have warned you!” she shouted.
“It’s fine Ems.” Shouri’s eyes shifted towards the door. No one was there but the way he was staring at the empty space made it seem like he was looking at something no one else could see.
“Shouri?” Emily asked.
The boy shook his head. “Sorry,” he grunted, refocusing. “According to what I got from the person who freed me, I’m too good at curing Feroce.” He paused. “So, they wanted to study me. Dead or alive.”
Emily nodded slowly, their respective Resonators looking to their Maestros with concern. “We both know too much,” she said.
Shouri stroked his chin in thought. “We have to take the fight to them.” Though he stated this with determination, it wasn’t his; he gripped Taika’s hand tightly, the girl’s eyes glowing bright blue as Shouri spoke.
The Luna native smiled warmly. “Of course.”
“So what’s the game plan anyway? Y’all are going up that mountain, right?” Albarich spoke up.
“Don’t remind me.” Pacifica shivered, holding herself.
“We need to get you some warmer clothes.” Rebecca poked the otter’s exposed side, eliciting a surprised squeal.
“Are we going with them?” Ritika asked her Maestro.
“Hrmmm…” Emily considered that question. Her gaze shifted to Albarich. “No…” she trailed off.
“You’re welcome to come with,” Shouri offered to the other Maestro.
“No, I think the best thing for us to do is to split up and stay on the move,” Emily decided.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Though we probably can’t go back to Naiza and by extension Luna.”
Ritika sighed, closing her eyes. “We’re kinda in a pinch, huh?” commented the cat.
Albarich shrugged. “Nothing different than usual.”
“I knew you two were suspicious from the jump.” Ritika glared at her draconic companion
“We fucking warned you!” said dragon barked back.
The two Resonators were pacified with a head pat from their Maestro. “Doesn’t matter now, we’ll get through it,” Emily said.
“Still though, I doubt even with Sarayul’s training we’re going to be able to handle whatever they have in store for us. We can handle Feroce Resonators just fine, but we’ve only been fighting them one-on-one. If they have any as strong as Mila we could be in trouble,” Shouri laid out his thoughts for the others.
The cabin went quiet.
“We should get a team together then,” Emily suggested.
“I dunno about that.” Shouri leaned forward folding his hands together. “What we’re doing is probably highly illegal,” he guessed. “I have no way of knowing how the aftermath is going to go down, even if we do win.”
“It’s very possible we all could be arrested, even stripped of our licenses.”
Shouri’s trio tensed up at that thought – being forced out of Shouri’s care as a result of all of this. A nightmare they hoped would stay in the realm of possibility and never cross into reality.
“Well then, I guess if it came down to it, I could help there,” Emily spoke up.
“Huh?” Shouri raised his head.
The other Maestro smirked. “Don’t you remember who I am?” she asked. Before he could answer, she continued. “I’m only the Princess of the current Lunar monarchs. I’ll probably get deported back to Luna if we get arrested, yes, but I can just get my parents to request you and your Resonators be sent to Luna with me. Easy peasy.”
Shouri mused over that thought for a moment. “I guess making friends in powerful places does have its benefits,” he muttered.
“Also, couldn’t Elijah do something about this problem?” Pacifica asked.
“To an extent.” Shouri’s expression clouded. “I’m not sure if he could get me off the hook for murder.”
Silence again.
“Excuse me?” Ritika finally spoke up.
“I have a nasty feeling if we take the fight to them, someone isn’t walking out alive and it sure as hell ain’t gonna be me,” Shouri said.
“You serious?” Alabrich raised a skeptical brow.
“Absolutely,” Pacifica said in place of her Maestro.
Taika tightened her grip around her Maestro’s hand. “I know I said I’d follow you straight into hell, but I didn’t think that’d be so soon,” the fox joked.
“Sorry,” Shouri replied, shifting his gaze away from her.
“Don’t apologize Sho.” She squeezed his hand again. “I would never lie to you,” she whispered.
“This is hard,” Emily commented.
“Why can’t we just report him to the authorities?” Ritika pondered aloud. “If this guy is making those Feroce Resonators, isn’t that enough?” she asked.
Shouri grunted and shook his head. “No, he’s a rhythm master. Probably a genius too. At most we could probably get his assistants arrested,” Shouri trailed off, his eyes flicked to the empty space in front of the door. “It’s gotta be him,” the Maestro asserted. “But…”
Pacifica laid a hand on her Maestro’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Motive,” he replied.
The cabin went quiet, the ambient sound of the train chugging along breaking up the silence.
“Motive,” Emily repeated.
“Why is he doing all this?” Shouri clarified. “What does he gain from making Feroce Resonators?”
Only the continuous clacking of the wheels rushing over the train tracks answered Shouri’s question.
KNOCK KNOCK
Eight pairs of eyes locked onto the door where someone had tapped. “Concessions,” a voice spoke from the other side.
Shouri released a held breath. “Probably a good idea to get some lunch,” he said, noting Taika’s excited tail wagging from inside the seat.