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

Beeeeep Click!

Room Six of the North Corhiasela MA Office opened up. The current occupants of the room slowly filed in.

Shouri flicked on the lights

Rebecca slumped onto one of the lounge chairs.

Pacifica made her way to the bathroom.

Taika fell onto the bed.

The four remained quiet. None of them dared utter a word. They all just remained entirely silent, still processing what they had just witnessed.

Two hours ago.

Shouri and his Resonators sat in shock at what just occurred. Shouri and Rebecca were some distance away, holding down Vince, while Pacifica and Taika were in front of the mystery Resonator who had given the order that ultimately ended Cecil’s life.

“You... you killed him... you actually killed him.” Wide-eyed, Pacifica sat on her knees, pointing at the space Cecil once occupied.

“Che cazzo... che cazzo era quello?” Taika slumped to the ground next to Pacifica, the bright blue rhythm in her eyes extinguished as quickly as Cecil’s life was.

“CECIL! CECIL!” Vince screamed, easily escaping Shouri’s grasp and rushing to where his Resonator once was.

Shouri was knocked on his rear by the younger Maestro’s escape, though he remained on the ground, eyes firmly on the white tuner formerly attached to Cecil. The screen which once proudly displayed spell lists and status information was now showing static.

Rebecca grabbed Shouri’s arm. “H-hey... Shouri... wh-what the fuck was that...?” Her voice quavered, tightening her grip around her Maestro.

Letting out a tired breath, the mystery Resonator made his move. He stepped towards the grieving Vince. The Maestro didn’t acknowledge the large Resonator’s presence, sobbing and tearing at the grass in a vain attempt to find his missing Resonator. The man knelt next to the grieving Maestro. “My name is Aster. I’m Quiretteh special forces, I need you to come with me.”

“M-military.” Pacifica pointed at the man. “Why? Why military?” She shook like a leaf as her arm remained outstretched.

Upon further inspection, Taika realized this was the man who came to their door when they arrived at Corhiasela. The combat gear he was decked out in now was much more impressive than his plain civilian clothes. She doubted even Pacifica’s new Fortissimo level spells could do significant damage to the body armor Aster was sporting.

Seeing how Vince was dead to the world, Aster decided to pay the two Resonator girls who technically helped him the respect they deserved and explain what was going on.

“What you witnessed is called the Feroce Phenomenon. The intricacies of it aren’t fully understood, but what we do know is using the Feroce spells as they appear on the tuner will slowly corrupt the afflicted Resonator until they become indistinguishable from a Scherzando,” Aster explained.

“What...?” Pacifica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “We can... turn into Scherzando?” She lowered her head, eyes fixated on her own trembling hands.

Aster studied the frightened otter, then the fox sitting next to her. “Hmmm, not you two,” he decided. “I can sense you have an incredibly strong bond with your Maestro. Resonators afflicted by the Feroce phenomenon tend to have been abused pretty significantly,” he revealed.

This instantly turned eyes on Vince. The two Resonator girls stared at him with a mix of fear and disgust towards the boy.

“N-no! I never abused him! Don’t look at me like that!” the boy cried out.

Aster shook his head. “My Maestro and I have been tracking a group that has been forcibly turning Resonators into these Feroce Resonators and selling them in the wider markets,” the soldier stated. “You’re as much of a victim as that Resonator,” he clarified. Vince sat back on his legs, slightly slumped over – his gaze vacant, small whimpers escaping his lips every so often.

Seeing how Vince wasn’t going anywhere, Aster went to check on Shouri and Rebecca. The fiery vixen bared her teeth, brows pinched tight as the water elemental approached them. “Hey folks, any injuries?” Aster asked the pair.

“Y-you killed him!” Rebecca blurted, pointing the accusatory finger at the soldier.

Despite being the hardened soldier he was, Aster still openly wore his remorse on his face. “Unfortunately, it had to be done,” he spoke ruefully. “With Feroce, there’s a point of no return.”

“Feroce? Those spells did that?” Shouri spoke up.

“Yes.” Aster nodded slowly.

“You said there’s a point of no return. Resonators can recover from that?” Shouri asked.

Another nod from the soldier. “Yes, from research being done, strong, positive etude-” He looked back to Pacifica and Taika, before looking to Shouri. “-like you and your Resonators have can reverse the effects of the Feroce phenomenon.” He kept his voice low, but there was a certain gentleness to the way he spoke.

“But if that’s the case, why?” Rebecca’s gaze met the white tuner that lay nearby.

Aster noticed this and sighed.

“I’ll handle it from here.” The woman Maestro had finally arrived at the scene. On her back was a long rifle with a distinctive scope. At her side was a large case, looking far too heavy for either Rebecca or Shouri to carry. Aster acquiesced to his Maestro’s request. “Try not to be too harsh Kiki. You have a way with words.” The man chuckled.

"Just take care of the kid, he won’t cooperate if I talk to him,” the sniper told her Resonator.

“Yeah yeah. Just wrap up with them and meet me at the van.” And with that, Aster went to collect Vince.

“Who are you?” Shouri began.

“Kiki, sniper by trade,” she introduced herself.

“H-he was gonna explain why you had to shoot.” Rebecca pointed at the departing Aster.

The woman slowly nodded. “Feroce worsens the more you use the spells. Even using one spell advances the state of the condition towards that point of no return. With no chance to recover, abusing the spells like the boy did turned the Resonator into a Scherzando.” At this point in the conversation, Taika and Pacifica joined their Maestro.

“I’ve never heard of this thing before though, how long has been a thing?” Shouri furrowed his brows in frustration.

Kiki hummed, folding her arms across her chest. “Roughly about seven or eight years. It started with strays being taken off the streets. The reports of Feroce in the wild skyrocketed after that,” she spoke as a matter-of-factly.

Rebecca jumped. There was a sudden metaphorical dark cloud around her Maestro. It came about so suddenly that she was almost physically knocked over by how rapidly it formed.

“S-st-strays... you say?” Shouri managed to choke out, his face was as pale as a ghost. Pacifica was now entirely focused on him, also sensing the raw emotion emanating from her beloved Maestro. Even Taika wasn’t spared from this – she could feel it too.

What happened to their Maestro that he was reacting like this?

Kiki the sniper didn’t give them any more useful information after that reveal, so the group ultimately decided to return to their room, which at present saw the quartet lying about (though Pacifica was hogging the shower)

“R-Rebecca.” The vixen shook herself out of her own stupor. Shouri stood in front of the chair she had claimed.

“Yeah, Shouri?” She gulped hard. It was difficult seeing him as shaken as this.

“Can I ask something selfish?”

She hesitated before speaking: “Of course.”

“Can I hold you?”

The fire Resonator’s face reddened.

Taika perked up at this point – she wasn’t the most socially aware, not like Rebecca or Pacifica, but there was intention behind that. Shouri specifically wanted Rebecca right now; it was as if his emotions were on a billboard being broadcast for anyone rhythmically privy to them.

“Yeah.”

The lunar Resonator watched as her Maestro and fire counterpart shifted over to the larger couch. Shouri wrapped himself around her and began to sob quietly. Taika folded her ears back as Rebecca tried to console him – the lunar Resonator didn’t want to hear this.

In the same respect though, she felt bad about being jealous of Rebecca. Shouri specifically sought her out for some reason. She knew well enough that Rebecca had something she could provide that Taika herself couldn’t.

Pacifica of course was the most aware of the goings on outside the bathroom and emerged a minute or two later in her bedclothes. Without a word, she made her way to the bed and basically tackled Taika. “Eep! Paci?” the surprised fox yelped.

“Shhh...” The otter held her lunar counterpart tightly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but... he wants her right now,” she whispered into the fox’s ear.

“I can see that, but why?”

“The only thing I can sense is he wants warmth, but I have no idea why.”

Taika knew Pacifica didn’t know the reason, but that didn’t sate her curiosity. Why was Shouri specifically seeking out warmth right now? As far as she knew he wasn’t a fan of being overly warm, despite his choice of attire. “I just want to know why,” she breathed out.

“Me too.” Pacifica gently stroked Taika’s hair, just trying to be a soothing presence.

It had been such a long night, so it was no surprise when the two pairs fell asleep where they were.

Slowly, Rebecca returned to the waking world, and with it, she found herself in her Maestro’s embrace.

The events of the night prior hit her like a sack of bricks. He just kept apologizing to her, for what she didn’t know. It was heartbreaking, especially after their talk only a couple of days prior.

“I promise I won’t judge you, I just wanna know how to help,” Rebecca whispered to herself, burying her face into his chest.

Some time passed, and eventually, Rebecca became cognizant of consciousness again as Shouri began to stroke her hair. “Shouri...” She held him tightly, sensing he didn’t want her to leave his side.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” he whispered to her.

“Heh, now you know how I feel,” she tried to joke.

“I feel awful.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“If I didn’t say anything to her.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t do enough.”

“SHOURI!”

Rebecca took hold of the scruff of his shirt. “If you say that, then we’re all to blame - none of us did enough by that logic.” She glared down her Maestro.

In response, he raised a brow. “You couldn’t have possibly done anything to help – we didn’t know each other,” he stated, marked confusion in his voice.

This threw Rebecca off guard. “I don’t get it,” she blurted out.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I said too much.” The Maestro sat up, bringing his fox-girl up with him. Despite it all, she remained attached to him – sensing he still needed her. “Let’s go get breakfast,” he said suddenly.

“Eh?” Rebecca tilted her head. “But doesn’t Pacifica normally go?”

“I want you right now.”

Once more the vixen’s face rushed with blood. “M-me?”

He squeezed her tightly, pushing the small of her back into him. “Just... let me be selfish.” Though he should have been addressing Rebecca, his voice was projected at the bed.

Rebecca, due to her positioning didn’t see Pacifica’s hand rise and motion for them to go.

They didn’t need to get dressed as they had fallen asleep in their usual attire, so it only took a couple of minutes for the pair to slip out of the room.

As they walked, Rebecca’s eyes were locked on her hand, the digits of which were interlocked with her Maestro’s. To say she still wasn’t used to this was an understatement. Sure, they had just slept together on the couch, but that was in the relative privacy of their room. Now they were out in public holding hands – she felt so indecent.

That is to say, she was the only one drawing meaning from this. Her Maestro was overly comfortable with his Resonators. They usually all slept together after all.

Though... she had gotten the best sleep of her life since falling under his care. She always woke up rejuvenated and well-rested. There was a method to his madness, even if he earned the ire of his contemporaries.

Speaking of, one such Maestro appeared in their path.

“V-Vince.”

“Shouri.”

It was tense. Rebecca could feel her own Maestro’s anxiety building, and she moved to step between the two. However, he kept her firmly by his side, squeezing her hand tightly.

“Can we talk?” Vince requested quietly.

After a moment, Shouri slowly nodded.

Vince led the two into the casting range and ducked into a booth. Shouri followed; a sense of obligation informed his movement.

The younger Maestro stood at the edge of the lane, at the casting point where the Resonator was designated to stand. He turned and faced the veteran Maestro.

“You know, when I saw that news story about you, I thought you were the coolest. The situation you were in was crazy, like out of a movie, but you still managed to get out of it like some kind of action hero,” he began. “And then you just happened to be here. It was so awesome,” the boy recalled fondly.

“The more I learned about you, the cooler I thought you were.” The smile faded from his lips. “But I realized, I don’t really know you. I bought Cecil well before I even knew who you were. I like Resonators, I always have,” he paused, mulling that thought over. “But I don’t know what kind of Maestro I can be.” His gaze fell to Shouri and Rebecca’s joint hands.

“Can you tell me about them? Your Resonators, I mean; how did you meet them?”

Shouri lowered his head.

“Tell him,” Rebecca urged. Shouri looked to his Resonator still by his side. “I think he needs to hear it,” she added.

Taking in a breath, he began to speak. How he found Taika, how people treated her, the escape from his parents' home, finding Pacifica and the trials they went through escaping the kidnapper, then Lyle and Rebecca, how he treated her, and finally buying Rebecca from him and freeing her. Vince hung onto every word, allowing Shouri to tell his tale, not once interrupting.

When Shouri was finished, Vince nodded. “That’s what I thought,” he chuckled. “You are super cool Shouri.”

“I’m not that great.” The elder Maestro averted his gaze.

“I know what kind of Maestro I want to be,” Vince decided. “I want to be like you, I want to help Resonators in need. I don’t need to buy one with a fancy name or anything. Just someone who wants to be with me will do.”

Both Rebecca and Shouri were taken aback - that came from the heart.

“I’m not trying to replace Cecil. I really did like him. But there’s a small part of me that thinks he wouldn’t have wanted me to dwell on my past mistakes.” Vince seemed to struggle a bit, trembling and holding back some tears behind a lowered head. “I’ll be fine! When I find that Resonator, would you go hunting with me again?”

“S-sure.” Shouri nodded.

“Okay! It’s a deal then!” Vince walked past the pair. “See you around Shouri!”

And with that, Vince was gone. Rebecca slowly directed her gaze to her Maestro.

“...wouldn’t want me to dwell on my past mistakes huh? I wonder...”