Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

“What the terra is this?” Emily shot a glare at Elijah as they exited the hotel.

Being separated from all of their Resonators was one thing. Who was waiting outside was an entire other can of worms. Two police cars sat in wait for them – a paired Maestro and Resonator officer assigned to each one.

“They will be escorting us to our meeting place,” Elijah stated as if it should have been obvious.

Emily gulped, her eyes darting back towards the hotel as she curled in on herself.

“Is this really necessary, Mister Klein?” Shouri said, also glaring at his “employer”.

“I told you Mr. Tomoshibi, we cannot take any risks when speaking of this information, and room-based Ceoíche cages are difficult to construct,” the Klein heir explained. “What, did you think that the Klein Foundation could make a miracle happen?” the boy teased.

Shouri snorted indignantly. “Emily and I will take one, have fun with Colette,” he decided, motioning for his partner in crime to follow.

“We will!” Colette waved, not catching the slight aimed at her.

Getting into the cop car was unnerving for both of the young Maestros. It didn’t help that the seats were made of hard plastic, meant for detaining criminals. It felt as if they were being detained behind the caging that separated the front of the vehicle from the back.

The officers took their seats with no fanfare. Shouri studied the Resonator officer who sat in the passenger’s seat. Solar element based on the greys and the sense of sunshine radiating from them. Obviously, they were some sort of swine based on the ear shape. Maybe a hog perhaps? The wilder, coarser fur suggested it. Either way, they were well trained, keeping at full alert. He hadn’t spotted the Maestro Officer’s tuner at any point. Shouri figured they must keep them hidden and or secured on their person to avoid any mishaps while apprehending criminals.

On closer inspection, both officers were dressed in the same kind of rhythm-dampening clothing that he and Rebecca had to wear while on the job at the stadium.

“Patrol Four to Dispatch, en route to the station with VIP,” the Resonator officer handled the radio while the Maestro focused on driving.

“Roger Patrol Four,” came from the radio.

“Never seen a police officer before,” Emily muttered.

“I have, unfortunately,” Shouri whispered back.

“Oh?” The princess looked to her fellow Maestro

“Yeah, we were riding with a truck when it got flipped by an attack spell,” he replied.

“Wait that was you?!” Emily gasped, having remembered hearing about it in the local news.

Shouri nodded. “Yeah, me and Rebecca,” he stated simply.

“That was only a few days ago, how the terra did you survive that?” asked the princess, looking him up and down.

“Dunno, luck?” he offered with a shrug.

Her eyes scanned his form one more time. “Some pretty darn good luck,” she chuckled.

“Sahji owes me that much,” he grumbled.

Uncomfortable. That’s what Shouri felt as he sat in the tiny meeting room that had been constructed for their use.

What none of them had been informed of was the true nature of the room Elijah had “prepared”. It wasn’t just any old interrogation room, but apparently, a specially designed one reserved for “special interest” captives. It certainly didn’t ease the concerns of the three civilians present.

The nature of the room was only a part of the discomfort. The Ceoíche cage installed in the room instantly cut him off from the links he shared with Taika, Pacifica, and Rebecca despite all three tuners remaining on his person. As such, the world was darker and colder. The boy trembled, sliding his hands into the opposite sleeves and gripping his wrists to steal warmth from himself. He had also put his hood up and sat low in his chair.

“Wow. This sucks,” Colette commented, her eyes darting around the room.

“I’ll say.” Emily’s gaze was hopelessly drawn to the door no matter how much she tried to avoid it.

Elijah shrugged, the only one present unaffected by the strange pressure the room exerted. “It’s an acquired taste,” the blond Maestro informed the group. This earned an eye roll and a glower from Shouri and a glare from the two girls in the room.

“Why is Colette here?” Shouri motioned with his head to the seemingly unrelated fourth party.

“Why indeed, Mister Tomoshibi,” Elijah chuckled.

“Get on with it,” Shouri growled, further sulking in his seat.

“Yes yes, mustn’t deprive the addicts of their fix,” the Klein heir tittered.

Taking in a deep breath, Elijah began, “As it turns out, you three are connected.”

“How so?” Emily asked the obvious question.

“Yeah, I don’t know her, and she doesn’t know me,” Colette pointed out.

“Well, isn’t it obvious? You both know Shouri!” Elijah beamed.

The room went silent.

“Quit fucking around Elijah,” Shouri scowled, with the other two Maestros in the room backing him up with frustrated nods.

“Fine fine, none of you have an appreciation for theatrics,” Elijah clicked his tongue and shook his head in pity.

“It all stems back to what united us in the first place Mister Tomoshibi: Feroce.”

Silence once again.

“Uhhh…” Emily raised a hand. “What’s that?” she sheepishly asked.

“Ah! The Princess doesn’t know, how fascinating.”

“Princess…?” Colette and Shouri slowly turned to Emily, who had the entire emotional spectrum on her face – fear, anger, shock, everything but joy was there.

“She wasn’t going to tell you, or anyone, but this woman is the daughter of the current King and Queen of Luna,” Elijah informed the pair.

“Wh-WHAT?!” Colette shrieked.

“Inside voice please,” Shouri hissed.

“But she-!”

“Succession doesn’t work the way you think it does Mister Klein,” Emily spoke up gruffly, cutting off Colette. “The King, Queen, and the twenty-eight members of their court are chosen on a generational basis. Those of Lunar blood with the highest rhythmic potential,” she explained.

“I was not in the top fifteen of Maestros in my generation. Not even the top thousand. I may have lived in the royal palace, but royalty I am not.” Though her explanation was curt in word choice, it was just that, an explanation.

“I see,” Shouri mumbled. It was interesting information, but nothing that would alter his perception of the other Maestro. Instead, he wanted to focus on the topic at hand.

“What does Luna have to do with Feroce?” he asked.

“New Moon, specifically the Jundas faction,” Elijah began. “They’re more of a cult by all counts. Their beliefs stem down to a point where they wish to remove all non-lunars from Luna, by any means necessary,” he told the uninformed.

The trio remained quiet. Only for a moment, however, as Colette, the social wrecking ball that she was, had to sate her curiosity.

“Any means? Even-”

“Yes, there are rumors they’ve attempted a ‘cleansing’ of sorts, though evidence of that is scarce.” Elijah himself shifted uneasily. “What there is evidence of is mass and illegal deportations of many Resonators. They end up on the surface of Riterra before being transported elsewhere,” he paused for a moment. “The Lunar government has been quite adamant about denying these claims, however.”

Emily lowered her head, marked confusion painted on her face.

“Okay spill it, what do I have to do with this? Colette I get, since she’s working on the whole Feroce study and curing deal, and Emily stumbled into one of their operations and was almost ‘cleansed’ as a result, but what about me?” Shouri laid out his thoughts.

Elijah paused, deciding his word choice. “Well-” Another pause. “-we only learned all of this because of you Mister Tomoshibi.”

“What did I say about the crypticism? Out. With. It,” Shouri growled, losing his patience.

“The Klein Foundation stumbled onto one of their operations while looking for a certain cat,” Elijah began. Shouri paled – he already knew what was coming next but even so, he was still not prepared for what was said next. “Yes, Mila was at one of the hand-offs with the Jundas faction.”