Bus service in the Scheitto Mountains ran once daily. The drivers rotated amongst a small pool talented enough to navigate the rough terrain, ferrying the many climbers between their chosen courses.
Each mountain had its own peculiarities, its own challenges to face.
One mountain stood alone in this sense, Mount Sinchero, the supposed home of the Ethereal Sarayul. It was said that any climber who attempted to brave its summit would surely meet their end. And for the tenured bus drivers, they had seen their fair share of those never to return after being dropped off at its base.
So that’s why on a particularly warm September day, one of these bus drivers got to see a once-in-a-lifetime experience – someone returning from a climb up the deadly mountain.
The bus was empty of course, Mount Sinchero was the very last stop in the chain. Slowly he brought the vehicle to a stop, opening the door. He remembered these four from when he dropped them off a little over a month ago. The lunar Resonator, the unassuming otter, the fire fox (possibly a Renard?), and their Maestro. The green jacket he wore stood out.
“We’re back,” grinned the otter. The driver remembered her especially, she was the one who had shouted from the back their intended destination, and how they were deadly serious about it.
Turns out that wasn’t a whole lot of hot air after all. “So didjya meet him?” asked the driver, motioning to the mountain behind them.
“Sarayul? Yeah! Nice guy!” beamed the otter as she got on the bus.
“I owe him a trading card at some point,” grumbled the Maestro as he boarded behind his otter.
“I’m gonna miss the food,” the fire fox chimed in as she followed along.
The lunar Resonator was the last in line, and she didn’t say a word, but her presence felt different somehow. The driver wasn’t sure how but the aura around the black-clad vixen had changed significantly in the month gap. Lunars were so rare to find out in the wild like this it was easy to recall the few he did see to memory.
It was the combination of the four of them, how casually they strolled up the mountain and returned, looking as fresh as the day they left.
These people weren’t normal. He committed their faces to memory.
Someday he would be able to tell stories about the time when he was the bus driver for these amazing people.
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The bus slowly filled as it made its return trip back down to the Wenja terminal. Only the first travelers the bus picked up noted the oddity of there already being passengers. Surely, they hadn’t climbed Mount Sinchero, right?
They must have boarded from an earlier mountain and were just dealing with the full return trip. Yes, that was the only thing that made sense.
Soon Shouri and his Resonators were just four of the patrons on the bus, riding with the rest of the returning mountaineers back to Wenja. Though they stood out from their contemporaries. Where the other climbers were worn down, exhausted, and ready to return to civilization, Shouri’s group looked as they did the day they left – full of energy, clean, and ready to go.
The others riding the bus simply regarded them as a group who got cold feet before they even stepped foot onto their mountain of choice.
Oh, if only they knew the truth.
Would they have been mad?
Probably.
But they couldn’t do a thing about it. Not now.
The bus finally reached its destination at around five in the evening, sliding neatly into its terminal. The passengers disembarked all excited to be finally in the loving embrace of civilization. Many of the Maestros spoke of getting their Resonators checked up after the harsh battles against the mountain scherzando, others ready for the warm showers that awaited them. The Resonators were simply relieved to be off active battle duty for a while.
Shouri’s group stepped off last and immediately came to a stop, as who was there to welcome them back to civilization were a pair of familiar presences. Not ones that brought relief. No, who waited for them at the terminal drew a wicked smirk on Shouri’s lips. He couldn’t suppress the laugh that built in his stomach. He brushed his hair back and laughed. He laughed loudly. Laughed at the audacity of those who stood before him.
Standing Shouri’s opposite was a pair of larger men in suits, eyes obscured by shades. There were four Resonators between them in Solar, Lightning, Water, and Null elements.
One of the two opposing Maestros spoke for the pair. “Mr. Tomoshibi-”
Shouri ceased laughing and glared down the much larger men. “Look guy, I don’t know how much my dad is paying you, but is it really worth what is about to happen to you?”
Silence. The unrelated who walked the terminal drifted away from the three Maestros glaring one another down, the tension hanging thick in the air. Surely a battle wouldn’t kick up here? Would it?
Either way, the public seemed to exercise situational awareness of the impending conflict, a circle forming around the space Shouri and the pair of suited men occupied.
The two hired men knew something was much different about the boy that had escaped them only months ago, that was clear the instant Shouri had spoken. The way he held himself; there was no fear in his eyes. His Resonators stood relaxed around their Maestro, unlike before when they huddled around him defensively.
Unlike before he was alone, they had ensured of it. So where did this confidence come from?
It wasn’t anything to be concerned with. If it was dirty, money was money, and they had a job to do.
With that in mind, the two drew tuners from their coats, yellow and blue; the linked Resonators stepping forward at the implicit command.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Shouri took in a deep breath. “I don’t want to fight! If you continue, I will defend myself!” he bellowed, catching the attention of many of the others at the bus terminal. If they weren’t before, all eyes were on the combatants now, the crowd watching the standoff with bated breath.
“Hoping someone will stop us?” one of the men asked.
“No, not at all,” Shouri smirked as he took their clothes bag from Pacifica. “Just making sure I’m covered legally when I beat your asses into the dirt.”
The lightning and water Resonators were up first, with the null and solar Resonators standing behind their Maestros, eying the soon-to-be battlefield.
Without a word, Rebecca stepped up with Pacifica behind her. Unlike his opponents, Shouri did not move to his tuners, they hung from his waist untouched.
“Idrante, Forte!”
“Corrente Elettrica, Forte!”
The basic water and lightning spells started off the battle, aimed at their respective weaknesses – water for Rebecca, and lightning for Pacifica.
Rebecca ducked under the water spell and cleared the distance between her and her opponent in an instant. She spun around and aimed a kick at her opponent’s sternum, boosting her attack’s force with a timely jet of fire. Despite the water Resonator being much larger than her, she was easily able to launch him into the air, winding him in the process.
Meanwhile, Pacifica side-stepped the lightning attack aimed at her, keeping her eyes locked on her target. “Were lightning spells always this slow?” she wondered to herself.
“Dolina, Legato; Ghiacciolo, Rubato,” Shouri passed a hand over Pacifica’s tuner.
The ease at which Rebecca and Pacifica had pivoted around their Resonator’s attacks told the two assailants they couldn’t afford to play around. The other two Resonators stepped into battle, their tuners being drawn.
“Corrente Elettrica, Fortissimo!”
“Manga de Agua, Fortissimo, Luce del Sole, Fortissimo!”
Shouri shook his head slowly. “Luce Lunare, Fortissimo.”
The spells of the four opposing Resonators began to launch. Pacifica easily stepped around the two Corrente Elettricas, making sure her movements left her plenty of openings to continue dodging. After pivoting around the two lightning spells she unleashed the first of her two stored spells, sucking the lightning element into a sink hole which he couldn’t escape from due to the earth part of the ossia spell. In an instant she formed a dozen or so ice needles and began throwing batches of them, peppering the two Resonators she was tasked to take on.
Rebecca meanwhile, didn’t need a spell, she was just plain beating down the water Resonator her opposite, not giving him any breathing room to even cast the Manga de Agua as had been ordered of him. It was taking every bit of his concentration to block the smaller Resonator’s physical onslaught.
That left the solar Resonator who was charging light in his hand. He pulled back an arm to cast his spell in the style typical of the slashing attribute, when a ball of purplish black light smashed into the back of his head, taking him out instantly.
“What?!” the opposing Maestro shouted. Even the surrounding crowd gasped. Everyone present had recognized that as a lunar spell. All eyes fell upon the sole lunar Resonator present.
Taika… had not moved. She still wore her medical bag. She hadn’t prepared to fight in the slightest, even her eyes were closed.
“Luce Lunare, Fortissimo,” Shouri called again.
Once more the crowd gasped as the null Resonator fell, having been struck by another ball of lunar energy from an angle he hadn’t expected.
“Luce Lunare, Fortissimo.”
Rebecca threw another blazing kick at the water Resonator, who easily blocked it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t block the ball of lunar energy that formed in front of his face.
“Luce Lunare, Fortissimo.”
Just as the final Resonator had managed to crawl his way out of the mud pit Pacifica created for him, a ball of lunar energy ended him.
Taika took a deep breath, finally opening her vibrantly glowing blue eyes. From all around, 107 beads gathered forming a necklace around the vixen’s neck. They clattered around, finally resting against her chest.
The crowd erupted into cheering and applause. It wasn’t even close. They watched one small boy easily mop up two thugs with a number and element disadvantage.
Rebecca and Pacifica smirked, pleased with their handiwork. Shouri approached the two Maestros. “Gimmie one of your tuners,” he demanded.
They refused to move, stunned speechless. This shouldn’t have happened. How was this possible? How could this have been the same trembling boy from Canolapra?
“Give me one of your tuners NOW,” Shouri demanded, louder. His Resonators stood behind him, all three glaring at their attackers. The rhythm being radiated by them was unreal, suffocating even.
The white tuner was handed over. Shouri thumbed through the contacts and found his target.
James Tomoshibi
Call
The artificial ringer buzzed in his ear until the recipient on the other end picked up.
“This is James.”
“Hello, Father.”
The line was silent for a moment. “Who is this?” demanded the man.
Shouri’s grip on the tuner tightened. A billion words buzzed in his head, different scenarios playing out all at once. Finally, he spoke, unable to hold back the snarl. “You try to pull this shit again – you try to waste my fucking time, and I’m coming for you old man. This isn’t a threat, it’s a promise. Leave me the hell alone.”
With four months of pent-up frustration finally directed at its recipient, Shouri allowed the tuner to fall from his grasp, clattering to the ground. “Come on girls, Emily is waiting for us.”