It started with the clattering of food into a metal bowl. “Mangia, C'è neve da pulire,” an older female voice spoke before leaving the Resonator in her tiny room. In all reality, it wasn’t even a room, but a crawlspace under one of the stairwells. There was only enough space for her bed and food and the few books she could store in a small cut-out portion of the wall.
Panic immediately ensued.
She was back there. It was a dream! She didn’t get whisked away by a caring Maestro. She didn’t escape from this hell.
Taika was trapped. Forever a slave to these awful people.
And then she woke up. Tears streamed down her face as she was covered in the coldest sweat she had ever felt. It was quiet, dark. She could see perfectly thanks to her element. “It was just a dream...” she told herself. “A terrible, terrible dream.” She curled up with the lovely plush blanket she had been provided.
Every time she closed her eyes, however, she kept returning to that crawlspace, the terrible thought of none of her new life being real haunting her for the entire night.
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Shouri slowly opened his eyes as the sun poked in through the large window that flanked his bedroom. The boy sat up and stretched, yawning as he did so. He crawled over to his nightstand and retrieved the black tuner from its resting place.
Status: Panic
Rhythm: 16%
Heart Rate: 137 BPM
Oxygen Saturation: 91%
Hydration: 35%
Last Sleep Efficiency: 44%
Actual Sleep: 56mins
Time since Last Sleep: 5hrs 4mins ago
“Taika?!” He bolted from his bed, darted across the hall, and threw open the door to his Resonator’s room. “Taika?!” he called out.
Slowly the blankets moved and the fox-girl emerged from the sheets. “Sho?” She smiled groggily at him. “Buongiorno Sho.” Her tail wagged slowly.
He glanced down at the tuner in hand.
Status: Exhausted
Looking back up, she certainly earned that status. Her hair was a mess, thick dark bags around her eyes, ears drooping, slightly swaying; she appeared as if she would collapse any moment. “Nightmares again?” he guessed.
She perked up in surprise. “N-non! Why do you ask that?” she stammered out quickly.
The Maestro frowned. “Taika, be honest with me; I’m worried,” he spoke sternly.
The girl’s ears wilted again. She shook her head. “I don’t want to say,” she muttered.
He lowered his head. Of course, she must have some kind of emotional baggage. She didn’t trust him enough yet to tell him. What did he expect really? “Okay. We’ll get you some coffee,” he decided.
“Okay, Sho.” The girl yawned again.
“Maybe take a shower while I get ready. Helps wake me up,” he told her before leaving her to her own devices.
It bothered him for the entire duration of his preparation for the day. She had slept fine during their flight back home. In fact, she missed the two or three times they hit turbulence. To say she slept like a baby was an understatement – she slept like a coma patient with how unmovable she was on the plane. But then again, at the hotel she also had nightmares.
Why?
They were clearly spooking her bad enough that she seemed almost afraid of sleeping. He shot a look at the tuner that lay on the side of his bathroom sink.
Status: Exhausted
Before it was telling him she was panicking. What was making her panic?
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Taika slowly sipped from a cup of hot coffee while they walked the halls of the massive manor. “We can go into town and get you set up with some fresh clothes and find stuff for your room,” Shouri told her as they turned the corner towards the front door.
“Oh, Shouri.”
It seemed his parents were also leaving for the day. “Where are you out to?” his father asked.
“Taking Taika out to see the town,” he stated.
A look was shared between his parents. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” The boy folded his arms across his chest.
“Well, you know...” his mother trailed off as if it should be obvious.
Taika’s ears wilted as she lowered her head.
“What? That she’s a Lunar?” Shouri snapped at his parents.
The two elders were taken aback by their son’s bravado. “N-no we-”
“I picked her. Must I remind you both that you wanted me to have a Resonator? Now I have one. You don’t get to turn your noses up at her just because you don’t like my choice.” He felt a fire burning brightly deep within himself. How dare they look down on her over something as superficial as her element of all things!
“N-no Shouri you misunderstand-” His mother tried to salvage the situation.
“No, I understand it very clearly. You’re just like the rest of them-”
Finally, his father cut back in. “That’s enough!” he raised his voice. This did nothing to deter the intense scowl their son directed their way.
“We’re concerned because you just got her. She can’t be all that strong yet.” He glanced over at the vixen who was hiding behind Shouri, tightly gripping the cup provided by her Maestro. “How can we trust her to protect you when it’s clear she’s still so weak?”
“That’s my problem, not yours,” Shouri countered. “I’m her Maestro, not you.” And with that, he grabbed her hand and brushed past his parents.
Taika’s mind meanwhile was in overdrive. She couldn’t believe someone would stand up for her like that. Shouri was the best! However, she couldn’t celebrate her Maestro not being a piece of garbage because he had to protect her from his own parents.
It was depressing. She didn’t even really grasp why people hated her element so thoroughly. Shouri slowed to a stop, releasing her hand and lowering his head.
“I’m sorry Taika.”
“Don’t apologize Sho.”
“They’re my parents, you shouldn’t have to deal with that.”
“It’s an improvement.”
“Still.”
After a moment of silence, Shouri spoke up once more. “We’re seventeen. Legally we can travel on our own,” he suggested. Taika averted her gaze.
“Your parents were right,” she muttered.
“No, they weren’t!” Shouri snapped back
“They were! I’m weak Sho!”
They glared at each other, a cool spring breeze blowing over them. Taika broke first, her glare slowly fading to a forlorn gaze cast away from her Maestro
“I know nothing of my magic. I’d lose against any other Resonator,” she admitted quietly.
“Well, it’s a good thing that isn’t your problem,” Shouri spoke evenly. He flashed their tuner to her. “I’m the Maestro. Your spells come from me. Don’t worry about it.”
“But I-”
“Seriously Taika, it’s fine.” Shouri placed his hands on her shoulders. She didn’t reject the gesture, but it sure made her face grow warm. “We can do hunts to get stronger.” He ran his hands down her arms, taking note of the state of disrepair her clothes were in.
“For now, let’s focus on you.” He grinned. “I want to spoil you.” Her face grew redder at that brazen declaration. “I think you deserve it.” And that remark certainly didn’t help.
“O-okay Sh-sho...” she squeaked, allowing him to take the lead again. Her hand found its way over her rapidly beating heart. That certainly was smooth of him – was this going to be a normal occurrence?
For starters, they went to a clothing shop in town. Of course, given the home they came from, this wasn’t an ordinary clothier, but a tailor of the highest prestige. Entering the shop had that rich smell to it, you know the one. The duo began to look around at all the fancy outfits on display. The price tags made Taika ill.
Everything was so expensive!
Given her previous caretakers spent less than ten notes on her current attire, seeing outfits at one hundred times the value made her feel underdressed even being in there. No, she felt plain naked with her filthy peasant rags.
“Excuse me,” Shouri called for one of the tailors. Taika immediately squeaked and hid behind him. Why was he calling someone!?
A well-dressed woman walked over. “How can I help you?” they asked.
Shouri stepped out of the way to reveal Taika. “I wanted to get some new clothes for her,” he told them, whilst the Resonator in question tried to look as small as possible.
“Hmmm...” The tailor stroked her chin in thought. “We can get her in something more suited to her style, though not much may change other than giving her some fresh versions of the clothes she’s already wearing,” they told him.
Shouri frowned tilting his head. “What do you mean?”
“Resonators have personal styles they adhere to, it’s sort of ingrained into them. Forcing them to change their clothing styles to something ill-suited to them may actively hinder their battle performance,” the tailor imparted to the Maestro.
Shouri hummed in thought. Resonators were strange creatures. He paused to study Taika. Outside of the fox ears and tail, she seemed like any other girl his age. “Please. Whatever she wants.”
And with that, Taika was taken into the fitting rooms, where another Resonator awaited.
Taika's clothes were plain in all considerations. She was a drab little thing thinking about it more in-depth. Always clad entirely in black, she always felt a bit off with that color scheme. Then again, she had never had a choice in the matter in the past – what would make her feel right in her own skin the vixen wondered.
“Let’s put something together for you,” the tailor spoke up.
Taika lowered her head, studying her current attire. “I like these kinds of clothes,” she voiced her thoughts for the tailor.
“So you think your style is fine?” the tailor questioned, while their Resonator jotted down some notes.
“Mhm.” Taika nodded. “But maybe I could stand to get a touch of color,” she added.
“Hmmm...” The tailor studied the raven-clad girl again. Every article of clothing the drab vixen wore before them was black. Even right down to the poor excuses for shoes covering her feet. “I have an idea.” The tailor rushed into the back. "Take her measurements!" the tailor shouted to their Resonator.
Without a word, the tailor's Resonator got up and pulled out a roll of measuring tape. Meticulous care was taken in gathering Taika’s measurements; everything from her height, bust size, and waist size, all the way down to her shoe size. After what felt like forever, Taika was allowed to lower her arms.
The Resonator handed off the measurements to the tailor as they returned. After studying the numbers and the vixen before them, they had one more question, “What will you be doing for your Maestro?”
“Sho said he wanted to do hunts with me.” Taika paused to consider that. “I want to protect him,” she added quietly.
A short nod. “I see.” With that, the tailor disappeared into the back once more and re-emerged with several articles of clothing. “Change into these please.”
And with that Taika was ushered into a changing booth. She was glad she took a shower this morning. She would have felt absolutely vile putting these fresh clothes on otherwise. She quickly disrobed and began to unpack the clothes forced upon her. The tailor even went as far as to include undergarments to change into.
With the underwear secured, Taika immediately noticed the difference, being her actual measured sizes rather than just whatever was thrown her way was just comfy. She moved onto the pants. They looked like her old pants, all black and a bit baggy around the legs to give her flexibility of motion. There was one major difference.
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She had to modify her old pants herself by tearing a hole in them to pull her tail through. It always messed up her tail fur and was a generally unpleasant process. These, however, were tailor-made for the extra appendage in mind, allowing her to slip them on and secure a button over her tail. They fit much better than her old pants and she appreciated that greatly too.
Next was the shirt. She held it up allowing it to unfold. All white, rather than the black T-shirt she wore before. Slipping it on, it was breathable and smelled nice. Looking herself over in the mirror, she liked this change. Next was a pair of socks, athletic socks. Like the rest of her new wardrobe, these fit her perfectly. Lastly her new shoes.
A pair of top-of-the-line running shoes, black with white soles and highlights. She slipped them on and tied them up. Standing up straight she could feel the effects immediately – her entire core felt more relaxed than in her previous shoes.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she admired her new attire. She felt like even with these minute changes she was looking at a totally different person.
Still, she felt there was something missing that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Stepping out, she continued looking herself over, the question on her mind lingering: What would her Maestro think?
The tailor clapped at the handiwork. “Marvelous!” They grinned with pride. “There is one more thing though.” They held up a hanger that had a black jacket on it. There was one big difference over her previous jacket.
Blue bands adorned each sleeve, adding that splash of color Taika was looking for. Her eyes sparkled as she accepted the garment from the tailor. Slipping it on felt just right.
“And now you are complete.” The tailor chuckled. “Let’s go show your Maestro.”
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Shouri meanwhile was sitting around. Not idly mind you, he was deep in study. He had to back up what he told Taika earlier. He was her Maestro, and as such he needed to learn what she was capable of so he could better utilize her unique traits in battle.
“Foxes have good hearing which extends into their accuracy,” he muttered to himself. “Healers typically deal less damage though, that’s a bad trade-off.”
Her spell list was pretty shallow, though he hoped to expand it.
He took a mental inventory of the three spells she possessed.
“Luce Lunare is our attacking spell. No frills just hit them with lunar energy.” He checked that one off. Would probably be the spell he utilized the most. “Rilevare l'intenzione lets her sense living things around her.” He kept reading. “Max rank lets her also sense hostility.” He hummed and frowned.
“I have a feeling that’s going to become more useful than I’d like for it to be,” he decided.
Moving on.
“And lastly La Bella Vita. She’s a healer so I’m glad to have this already.” There was much more information online about healing spells than the Lunar ones. This annoyed him, but he was at least glad to have the information. “Oh, to heal others I need to say “tutti” along with the rest of the spell.” He filed that one away in the back of his mind. If he was going to have them join hunts that’s probably what they’d be doing for the most part – healing.
There were a bunch of other spells, so he at least made himself familiar with the surface-level effects of each one, though since they weren’t available on his tuner yet, he surmised that Taika wouldn’t be able to handle casting them yet.
He did read a couple of things about forcing Resonators to cast spells that aren’t in the tuner yet, and all of them advised against it. Something about allowing their bodies to gradually adapt to his foreign rhythm or something; it wasn’t well elucidated on, just a commonly accepted fact. Regardless, he would heed the advice, again hoping he wouldn’t be in a situation where he’d have to break that practice.
Putting away the tuner for a moment, he sat back and let out a sigh. There was a lot to being a Maestro it seemed. Aura made it look so easy. She came back late at night a lot with Damian and wasn’t shy about telling Shouri about how much money they were making hunting.
There was a certain dark thought in his head but he dismissed it as he saw the door to the fitting room open.
Out stepped the tailor and Taika. Shouri stood up, looking his Resonator over. Now that she was in clothes which weren't in tatters and that properly fit her, she seemed to radiate a new brilliance that was hidden before.
“She is complete,” the tailor announced. “I picked out a set specifically meant to help dampen blows from spells and with superior burn and tear resistance. All that’s left is to take her out for some real battle,” the tailor told the young Maestro.
Said Maestro barely heard the tailor as he continued to look his Resonator over. She fiddled with the edge of her new jacket as she kept refusing her Maestro’s gaze. He smiled. “You look great, Taika.” She flinched at the compliment.
“G-grazie mille, Sho...” she squeaked.
Seeing how Taika seemed happy, Shouri turned his attention back to the tailor. “Can I also order some spares of that outfit and also some pajamas?”
“Certainly.” The tailor nodded.
“Cool, I’ll have you ship it to this address...”
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With Taika’s clothing situation taken care of the pair went back on the town. “Now what Sho?” the Resonator asked her Maestro.
“Hmm, I’m thinking lunch since we skipped breakfast,” he pondered aloud. Looking at his foxy friend, he found her wagging her tail, which told him all he needed to know.
They stopped by a fancy soup and sandwich shop and sat outside. While they waited for their food, Shouri pulled out the tuner and laid it on the table between them. “If we’re going to be in hunts, we’ll probably want to do some drills on your spells so we’re not just working with the basics,” he told her.
“I already have spells?” she asked. She knew she had magic she could cast with a Maestro’s command, but she had no real idea of what she was capable of.
“Sure.” With a knowing smirk, Shouri placed his hand on the tuner. “Rilevare l'intenzione, Presto,” he cast.
There was a moment of surprise from both parties.
Shouri felt a pull on the essence of his spiritual core, his rhythm. Connected to the tuner in hand, it was as if a tendril of his very being reached out and linked with the Resonator bound to the device. A bundle of rhythm passed through this invisible string from himself to her.
Taika received this connection and with it a rush of foreign rhythm. More than that, she found her body moving outside of her control. Her eyes closed and she placed two fingers on her right temple. An invisible pulse radiated from her body, and she became acutely aware of every person’s position around them.
“How many people are around us?” Shouri asked as Taika’s eyes slowly opened.
“Twelve,” she responded as if it should have been obvious. The girl blinked, shaking her head. “That was weird Sho,” she admitted.
“Agreed. I've never cast a spell through a tuner before,” he told her.
“Me neither.” She smiled sheepishly.
The Maestro nodded. “I read some stuff while you were getting fitted,” he began. “We can upgrade what spells you’re able to comfortably use simply by using them repeatedly. The quickest way is simple repetition.” He paused. “Though since you cast magic through my rhythm, we’ll have to be mindful of how much rhythm we’re using.”
Taika nodded. It seemed simple enough. “What else can I do then?” the Resonator inquired.
“Well, you have a basic attack spell and a heal.” He spun the tuner around to show her the tiny spell list she possessed.
A head tilt was earned from this endeavor. “I’ll take your word for it,” she decided. It was at that moment their food was served to them.
Taika’s eyes lit up and her tail wagged joyously at the bowl of soup she had ordered. Shouri still wanted to try something, however, and grabbed a plastic knife. “Hold up,” he said. She looked up from her food just in time to watch her Maestro slice into the back of his hand as hard as possible with the plastic knife.
“SHO?! COSA DIAVOLO STAI FACENDO?!” she screeched, jumping to her feet.
The boy smirked and simply grabbed the tuner in the center of the table. “La bella vita, Presto tutti.” The fox jumped as she felt his rhythm invade her once more. She pouted angrily at him as her body made the motions to heal him – reaching out and wrapping her hands around his injured one. A dull glow emitted from her palms, and a soothing warmth eased the pain in Shouri’s hand.
“See? All better.” He chuckled, waving his now-healed hand at Taika.
“You’re a jerk,” the girl muttered under her breath, falling back into her seat.
“What was that?”
“Nulla!”
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“Rilevare l'intenzione, Presto.”
“It’s just us.”
“Rilevare l'intenzione, Presto.”
“Still just us.”
“Rilevare l'intenzione, Presto.”
“Nobody around but us.”
The walk back home was kinda boring all things considered. Shouri wanted to grind uses of at least the detection spell to work on his and Taika’s rhythm, but also he was curious about who and what she would pick up on as they walked.
Turns out it was a whole lot of nothing. He glanced down at his tuner, then to Taika. She appeared as bored as he was. Perhaps he could spice things up a bit.
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo.”
“W-wait! Sho!” She tried to fight creating the spell, but her body was compelled to execute her Maestro’s command and she made a ball of lunar energy. “W-what do I do with this Sho?!” she cried out, holding the small ball of pulsating energy.
“It’s a bit smaller than I thought it would be,” Shouri observed. “I suppose this is the weakest level of our basic spell,” he commented.
“Shoooo,” Taika whined, still trying to figure out what to do with the attack that was now in her hand.
“Uhhh, I thought there was a thing that let me call off attacks.” The boy frowned. “I don’t know what it is, just throw it at the ground,” he suggested.
She gave it a small toss and the ball of lunar energy kicked up some innocent dirt. “Hm, not bad,” Shouri noted before they continued walking once more.
“You really want to do these hunt things?” Taika braved asking.
“Sure, it’s a way for us to make money.” Shouri shrugged. Though Taika noticed his expression harden as he lowered his head.
“And it’s a fast way for us to get stronger,” he whispered. Taika furrowed his brows. He wanted to get stronger? That was a sudden change; as far as she understood he didn’t want a Resonator before, but now he wanted power?
She desperately wanted to know what her Maestro was thinking, but alas she had no such window into his mind.
The only thing that gave her peace of mind was the way he kept wording his sentences. He kept using “us” and “we”; meaning her and him. As far as she had been raised, Maestros didn’t use such words. They were always so possessive, using phrases like “my Resonator” and the like, objectifying them in the worst kind of way. Not Shouri though, he always spoke of her in such a considerate way, as if she was another person and not a thing.
He also trusted her abilities, cutting himself just to demonstrate her ability to heal and even calling an attack with no actual target. He was comfortable with her even though they hadn’t known each other for more than a day or so at this point.
“Taika, be honest with me; I’m worried.”
And yet, she couldn’t extend him the same courtesy.