Back in the present.

“That’s pretty much how it all started,” Aura told the girls. “We all realized quickly that Shouri and Mila were highly compatible,” the blonde Maestro recalled fondly. “From there we visited Mila every day for months. Shouri taught her how to read and write – she was a quick learner and he was a good teacher. They’d also practice casting spells using the book and Shouri touch casting.” The woman paused, a melancholic smile on her lips.

This smile slowly faded. “Eventually we tried asking Mom and Dad if we could take her in.”

Pacifica balled up her fists tightly on her lap. Pattern recognition was a hell of a drug.

“Naturally they said no. They were quite alarmed at what we were doing in fact.” Aura shrugged. “They tried to stop us, but frankly, they were too busy with their own business at the time, so they failed dramatically and we kept visiting Mila,” Aura explained.

“Shouri had a very tight bond with her. It got to the point where even from our house, he had a good idea of her general direction.”

The trio of Resonators looked between each other. Their Maestro was far more impressive than they had realized.

“We had managed to wear down our parents to the point where they agreed to meet Mila to possibly take her in. Shouri and I had spent a few days prepping her on what to say and do to win them over.” Aura paused. Pacifica trembled slightly. She could feel it – whatever Aura was about to say was heavy. “Obviously, Mila isn’t sitting with you three today.” Aura’s tone had lowered, bearing the grim weight of what she was about to impart to them.

“That summer night started with a thunderstorm...”

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

Green eyes fluttered open as Aura arose from her evening nap.

CRACK BOOM

And was jolted out of her grogginess by a massive bolt of lightning striking nearby. “The heck...?” She held a hand over her pounding heart, having been startled by the noise in tandem with the house shaking.

Looking out her massive arched windows, she couldn’t see a thing out of them besides the occasional illumination from far-off lightning. The pounding of the rain was intense, almost muffling her thoughts from how hard the water was striking the home.

At any rate, it was around eight or so at night. Dinner would be ready soon, so Aura slipped out of bed and made her way out of her cozy bedroom.

Only to almost be bowled over by Shouri running down the hallway in full sprint. Thankfully they managed to just barely avoid each other.

“Shouri! What the hell!?” Aura snapped at her brother.

He stopped and turned back, panic practically dripping from his face. “A-aura! I can’t feel her – Something’s wrong!”

Aura gulped hard – she took pause, trying to figure out what to do. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

A stray fire Resonator out in this storm. It hadn’t occurred to her until this very moment. What did Mila do when it stormed like this? Where did she go? She hoped that the little Resonator didn’t hunker down amongst the trees and foliage as normal. There was no way it would provide adequate shelter for her.

They had learned a lot about how Mila survived out in the elements but didn’t ever question her severe weather preparedness. Either way, if Shouri couldn’t feel her anymore, that was bad. “Come on, let’s grab the raincoats!” Aura made her call.

The pair rushed out of the house, not even sparing the time to tell their parents where they were going. Armed only with a single flashlight, they thought not of what they ran into, but of the one they were trying to save. In all honesty, it was terrifying for a couple of kids like them – cold, pounding rain; violent winds; claps of thunder that shook them to their cores; sudden flashes of lightning above. It wasn’t any place for them to be, and yet they ran down the abandoned streets, every so often being illuminated by a driver braving the elements.

They reached the park in record time and began their frenzied hunt. Though without Shouri being able to sense Mila's rhythm, this was much more difficult of an endeavor than they had realized. It was still pitch black out, so they relied on another sense.

“MILA!”

“MILA!”

“MILA WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“MILA PLEASE!!”

Their desperate shouts were only answered by the skies, which drowned out some of their cries with claps of indifferent thunder.

They checked every spot they knew she stayed. Aura began to lose hope – Mila was nowhere to be found. Their throats were raw from their desperate screams. They were cold and entirely soaked; the raincoats only marginally helped keep them from getting wet.

“We can’t find her...” Aura grabbed her brother’s shoulder.

“I’m not giving up! She HAS to be here!” It was clear he was crying from the cracks in his voice.

They came up on the last spot they knew she occupied. Their hearts sank instantly. What they had found...

The shrubbery was torn up, branches destroyed, and laid strewn about. A flash of lightning revealed one of the books they had gotten for Mila completely destroyed, the pages scattered about. There were other objects, toys, little things they had gotten for her haphazardly discarded. These were things she absolutely cherished.

“MILA!” Shouri screamed, falling to his knees and looking around for any trace of her. All he found though was a scrap of cloth – part of her shirt.

“S-she’s gone...” Aura stared wide-eyed at the cloth her brother held, mixed in the mud were splashes of red – blood.

CRACK BOOOOOOM

The playground just behind them was suddenly converted into a lightning rod as a massive bolt from the heavens sniped the metal object. The two siblings were physically shaken by such a powerful release of energy nearby.

Aura gritted her teeth hard. Mila wasn’t here: Shouri couldn’t sense her, and there was obviously a struggle. One she didn’t win. As the older sibling, she made her judgment call: “Shouri we gotta get out of here!” She reached down and grabbed his shoulder, but he smacked her away.

“I AM NOT LEAVING! MILA IS HERE! I KNOW IT!” Shouri screamed.

The elder sibling glared hard. “Shouri! She’s gone! Let it go!”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I WILL NOT! I CAN STILL DO SOMETHING! I CAN HELP HER!”

“THERE’S NOTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE!”

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

“We never saw her again. We went back every day, but well you all can figure out the rest,” Aura concluded, back in the present.

Pacifica was full-on bawling at this point, holding Taika who was trying to comfort her.

Rebecca wiped away some of her own tears before speaking up. “What happened to Shouri?” she asked.

Aura frowned. “He went back to the way he was before meeting her: withdrawn, keeping to himself. He had a bunch of friends, but he was very clearly etuding with Mila super hard, so once her influence left him, it was like rhythmic whiplash.”

Rebecca’s gaze fell upon Taika, who was still tending to the actively crying Pacifica. Her willpower kept him going – she had quite the void to fill apparently. That just spoke to Taika’s potential in Rebecca’s mind.

“Our folks finally got the severity of the situation and tried to get him to get another Resonator, but for a long time he was convinced he could find her.” Aura paused again. “Again, I don’t need to tell you how that went.”

The three girls remained silent.

“Anyways, I’m sure he’s been super weird about you three.” Aura shrugged.

“Yeah...” Rebecca was the one speaking for their group at this point. “He constantly throws himself into danger to protect us.” She recalled when he rushed into the Scherzando swarm to save her life.

The elder Maestro hummed in slight disapproval. “That tracks.” She looked between the three Resonators before her. “After the incident, I’d catch him constantly muttering shit like ‘I should have been there.’ Or ‘I should have protected her.’ Not surprised that’s the kind of Maestro he became when finally given the chance,” she explained.

“I don’t hate that part of him,” Pacifica finally managed to get some real words out. “I just wish he didn’t have to suffer so thoroughly to become that way.” Her tears began to shed anew. Rebecca and Taika slowly nodded.

Aura smiled. “Mila taught us both some valuable lessons.” The woman lowered her head. “Anyways, I’ve kept you away from him long enough. Let’s head back.”

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

“How fucking long are they gonna take?” Damian complained.

While the girls were getting the details on Shouri’s past, the aforementioned Maestro and his sister’s Resonator were just watching movies in his room at the MA office. Poor Damian was struggling at the moment, being deprived of his precious, precious tobacco.

“Just go smoke.” Shouri shot a sidelong glance at the fire elemental.

“You’d just snitch on me as soon as Aura gets back,” the Doberman countered.

“Would not.”

“No, the second I step out of the room, she’d come back and flip shit that I left you alone.”

“I’m a grown-ass man, go have your precious smoke sticks.”

Damian glared at his “current” Maestro. “Fuck you, I don’t need them,” he decided.

“Suit yourself.”

And so the two men returned to watching their movie in silence. Thankfully for Damian’s nicotine addiction, the girls returned. And return they did, Shouri’s three Resonators all dog-piling on him and crying on him in an indecipherable mess of sobbing.

Aura chuckled, walking up to the couch where the quartet lay in a heap. “They’re well informed now,” the elder sibling said simply.

“Thanks,” Shouri replied flatly, still in the process of being crushed by his three weepy Resonators.

“Hey they were fine until they saw you, then the waterworks started.” Aura shrugged, making her way around the sob pile.

Taking the free recliner, she crossed her legs and leaned back, relaxing. “So, what are you planning on doing?” she asked her brother.

Shouri pried himself out of the pile of girls he had found himself in. “We were going to Canolapra,” he told her. Patting Pacifica’s head, he continued, “This one’s parents live there and we figure it’d be a safe place to crash for a little bit.”

“Hrm...” Aura folded her arms across her chest, closing her eyes. “Well, there’s not much between here and there. Probably gonna be in super small MA offices if you can even find any,” she advised.

The younger Maestro nodded slowly, acknowledging that fact. “It’s probably going to be rough, but I think we can make it.”

Aura’s lips rose to a smile. “Definitely.”

“What about you? What are you even doing out here?” Shouri raised a brow.

“Well after you left, Dames and I rented a car and started looking for you. I didn’t want to call in case Dad hired someone to tail me, but we really haven’t run into anyone suspicious, so I think we’re safe.” There was more Aura wanted to say but left it at that.

“Ah.” Shouri didn’t sense it, but he saw the guilt on his sister’s face

Aura’s expression brightened. “Don’t worry, Mom and Dad don’t know what I’m doing, I’m certain of that.”

Silence fell upon the group, the movie Shouri and Damian had been watching still proceeding on in the background, unchallenged.

“Now what?” Shouri asked. “You found me.”

“Good fucking question.” Aura thought about it for a moment. “No idea. But I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

Damian rolled his eyes. “Probably we’ll wander aimlessly,” he spoke up.

“Probably!” Aura laughed loudly. “Stay in touch though.” She looked at her brother wearing a proud smile. “I’ll let you know if I find out Dad’s up to something.”

“Thanks.” Shouri nodded. It was something he had been concerned about, but it was a bit relieving that he wasn’t up to something, for now at least.

Aura hopped to her feet. “A’ight Dames! Let’s get moving! The great Lyberteran frontier awaits us!”

“Oh boy, more cornfields, I’m so fuckin’ excited,” the fire dog mumbled sarcastically, also rising.

After swapping back their tuners, Aura and Damian made their departure, leaving Shouri with his trio of Resonators once more.

The room remained quiet for some time. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you myself,” Shouri finally broke the silence.

“It’s okay Sho,” Taika said.

“We understand,” Pacifica added.

“It was a lot,” Rebecca chimed in.

The Maestro took in a deep breath before exhaling sharply. There was certainly a weight off of his chest. The past was in the past and he needed to focus on the three in front of him right now.

“Alright, who wants dinner?”

“Me!” “Me!” “Me!”