At one point in their time together Taika and Rebecca wanted nothing more than to tear each other’s hair out. Such a scuffle would have earned them a heavy scolding from Shouri.

  But now it was different.

  They weren’t trying to tear each other down but build one another up.

  Taika and Rebecca stood opposite one another on a dirt battlefield. They kept their gazes solely on their respective opponent. Taika’s beads rattled on her neck, while Rebecca’s heels sparked at the ready.

  “Let’s do fifty percent rhythm, I don’t want you two to be conked out for the rest of the day,” Shouri advised the two vixens who didn’t acknowledge their Maestro, their focus entirely on their opposite.

  Shouri took in a breath, shooting a glance to Pacifica who nodded.

  “Go.”

  Rebecca did what she excelled at: gap closing. She was immediately in Taika’s face, throwing a kick skyward. While Taika’s body wasn’t as fast as Rebecca’s, her mind was. A cushion of beads arrested the blazing foot, allowing Taika precious seconds to pivot out of the way of the attack. Just as quickly as Rebecca had launched her attack, she was forced to defend herself as a haymaker was thrown towards her head.

  “Woah…” Pacifica gasped. “They’re so fast.”

  “Instinct versus skill; Taika never got any training, but has always been scrappy, while Rebecca is the trained professional,” Shouri commented.

  “I see that…” whispered the otter.

  Taika threw punch after punch, Rebecca blocking each blow with her arms. The Renard’s eyes darted around, keeping an eye on both Taika and her beads. They were everywhere; each one was primed and waiting for her to make a mistake. They were small enough that they could be anywhere on the battlefield in an instant, whether on attack or defense. It was impressive that Taika could work hand-to-hand combat while keeping her beads on the ready.

  The fire Resonator had to go on the offensive again and she knew it. Blocking Taika’s punches was difficult, even for her. Each blow carried so much physical force, it was no wonder that Whistler didn’t stand a chance in a fistfight – it was like trying to block a locomotive.

  Rebecca found her opportunity as Taika over-committed on one swing allowing the fire element to pivot around, grab, and throw her opponent in one solid motion. Rebecca wasn’t done though - she chased her opponent into the air, her heels blazing behind her. Taika once more blocked a devastating kick from reaching her by use of her beads, sapping Rebecca’s attack of its kinetic load.

  Though Rebecca wasn’t going to let that trick work a second time, she increased the output of her fire, disrupting the telekinetic bonds that kept the beads under Taika’s control. This momentary lapse in defense allowed Rebecca through and she finally landed a hit, slamming Taika into the dirt.

  Rebecca didn’t let up and dropped down onto the other fox, only to find herself grabbed and pulled to the ground. The two girls tumbled in the dirt desperately fighting to gain the upper hand. Taika’s beads lay scattered all about, unmoving as her focus was primarily on winning the tussle.

  Finally, Rebecca managed to get Taika pinned, securing the lunar’s limbs to prevent any of her elbow jabs or otherwise breaking free. Next was to go for the knock-out, which Rebecca was poised to do by choke-out.

  “Sho!” Pacifica shouted, pointing at her fellow Resonator getting denied the ability to breathe.

  “Hold on,” Shouri held up a hand.

  Taika had calmed. Her beads, scattered all around started to move once again. Rebecca, sensing the change in her rhythm, pivoted around and threw the other girl up and right into a blazing kick to the back.

  “GAH!” Taika’s eyes bulged from the sudden strike, her beads falling still again.

  “SHO!” Pacifica cried out.

  “Hang on…” He still held a hand up.

  Rebecca spun around, giving herself more leverage, and delivered a second blazing kick into Taika who had fallen right back into the blow, sending her higher than the first blow. Rebecca spun up to her feet, building momentum until she delivered a devastating spin kick into the Resonator.

  “REBBY STOP!” Pacifica had enough and ran out onto the field

  The fire Resonator breathed hard, her heels maintaining their fire. “What a goddamn monster, holy shit,” she spat off to the side.

  Taika, despite the beating she just took, rose to her feet again, her eyes practically bursting with stubborn blue rhythm.

  “It’s a tie,” Shouri spoke up, drawing the attention of the three Resonators.

  “Huh?” Pacifica blinked.

  “They’re both below fifty, as agreed upon.”

  Rebecca sighed loudly, her stance gaining slack. “Yeah, that sounds about right,” mumbled the fox, snuffing the fire at her heels.

  “Wait what?” Pacifica looked between the two Resonators and then her Maestro.

  “Rebecca wasn’t getting hit, but she was using a ton of her rhythm to deal damage. Taika on the other hand didn’t need to use much rhythm to fight, but was taking a ton of damage,” Shouri explained. “They’re opposites in that regard.”

  “Oh yeah…” Pacifica nodded slowly in understanding,

  “La Bella Vita, Lento,” Shouri cast, allowing Taika to heal her wounds.

  Her physical pain dealt with, Taika flicked her wrist out and all 107 beads flew from their spots on the battlefield to take their place around her neck. She motioned with her head to Rebecca.

  “La Bella Vita, Lento Tutti.”

  Taika approached her sparring partner.

  “Good game,” Rebecca smirked.

  The grin was wiped off Rebecca’s face when Taika wrapped her arms around her, imparting the healing energies into the other Resonator.

  “Do it normally damn you!” Rebecca struggled against her fellow Resonator’s embrace.

  “No, I’m winning this grapple,” Taika tittered.

  Rebecca pouted, her face beet red as she succumbed to the healing waves.

  “Quite the show,” spoke one of two audience members.

  The group spun around to find Elijah Klein, and his shadow of a Resonator, Zino standing before them.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “How long have you been spying on us, Klein?” questioned Shouri.

  The blond Maestro hummed in thought. “From the word ‘go’,” he answered with his trademark smile.

  “So the whole time,” Rebecca said with a roll of her eyes.

  “Ms. Taika has grown quite powerful with her ad-Lib.” The Klein heir’s attention shifted to Pacifica. “That’s not fair to all their efforts,” he muttered knowingly. “I already had duelists complaining about your skill with Resonators before, I dare say you could take worlds with no trouble should the Grand Masters ever earn your ire.”

  “Too much effort,” Shouri scoffed.

  “Discordant Willpower strikes again,” Elijah sighed.

  “What do we owe the pleasantries, Mister Klein?” Shouri folded his arms across his chest, narrowing his eyes at the other Maestro.

  “Just checking in on you.” An annoyed hum told the man that the answer wasn’t satisfactory. “The Klein Foundation still hasn’t been able to locate your sister,” Elijah said.

  That didn’t help Shouri’s mood, earning an annoyed huff, as he dropped his arms to his sides. “Where the hell is she?” he whispered.

  “The last time she checked into an MA Office was June 6th, the Drahgo MA Office,” Elijah revealed.

  Shouri raised a brow. “Drahgo? Why there?”

  “Didn’t she get a dragon recently?” Rebecca asked, recalling that tidbit from an earlier conversation regarding the sibling.

  Elijah nodded in the affirmative. “A solar dragon, named Chiara apparently,” he noted.

  Pacifica jumped, her head whipping over to Shouri. “Sho?” she asked.

  “I see,” the boy cracked a smile. “She’s fine then,” he suddenly decided.

  The trio of Resonators exchanged glances again. They had a nasty feeling that once again something from Shouri’s past was behind his strange attitude.

  “When will we be departing for Quiretteh?” Elijah questioned.

  “I have a friend coming in from Lybertera, he should be here tonight,” Shouri said.

  “Ah good. We wouldn’t want our quarry to slip out under our noses, now would we?” Elijah smirked.

  Shouri nodded in agreement. “Not at all.”

  “I wonder if other people spend as much time at airports as we do,” Rebecca pondered.

  It was about ten at night, Shouri’s group was at Quiretteh Intercontinental Airport, waiting at one of the gates. Despite the late hour, the terminal was still rife with activity. A Resonator cleaning crew was using the relative lull in foot traffic to finally get some work done. There were still travelers waiting to get out of the city, discussing plans for when they arrived at their destinations. A trio of pilots trudged down the walkway complaining about the grueling shift they just finished.

  Shouri sat on one of the benches with his trio of Resonators as they peoplewatched.

  “When was his flight supposed to get in?” asked Pacifica.

  “About ten minutes or so,” Shouri said, flashing the itinerary to his curious otter.

  “Ah, I see.”

  They resumed their observations in silence.

  Besides the gates where travelers boarded and de-boarded their planes, there were shops on the opposite walls. Taking advantage of the forgetfulness or spontaneousness of those on the road was always the modus operandi of these types of business. Lots of small luxury items you could only reasonably find in an airport like this at around five times the markup one would expect such trinkets to cost.

  Everything from novelty snacks to over-the-counter drugs, and even souvenirs proudly showing off the Quiretteh name adorned the shelves of these little pop-up shops. Though the Resonators hired to man these stalls were weary, tenured employees; showing that these stands though shabby and temporary served the clientele year-round.

  Time passed on as the quartet waited for the appointed plane to arrive. Nothing of real note happened during the intervening time. Just a lot of people living their everyday lives with their own cares and concerns.

  None of them could know what the gathering of the talent in Quiretteh was actually for. If all went well, they probably would never know. Just strangers passing one another in the night, never interacting again.

  “There they are.” Shouri rose, pointing to the plane that just docked at the terminal. His trio stood with him, crossing the walkway to the gate proper.

  A plane’s worth of Maestros and Resonators departed, filling the terminal with more foot traffic. Finally, the guests of honor showed themselves.

  “Vince, Mila!” Shouri waved.

  “Shouri!” Vince rushed over and hugged the other Maestro. “Toldjya we’d be here,” grinned the younger Maestro.

  “Never doubted you,” Shouri smirked back. His gaze rose to meet Mila’s.

  “Miss me that much?” she snarked.

  “If it were up to me, I’d have sent you and Vince to L’ultera,” Shouri returned the snide remark in kind.

  “Tch, brat.” Mila grinned toothily.

  “I figured you’d want in on this and you’d kill me if I didn’t at least invite you,” Shouri shrugged.

  “You got that right, punk,” Mila huffed. “Shoulda told us sooner; springing this shit on us at the last minute. I outta clean your clock for that stunt,” the cat continued to complain.

  “Figured I’d give you two some peace for a little bit,” Shouri said. “You know how things get with me.”

  Mila scowled at the boy. “Yeah! You got that right!”

  “She was complaining the entire trip here, but I could tell she was actually really happy to be coming to see you,” Vince tittered.

  “HEY! Don’t tell him that!” Mila dragged her Maestro away to yell at him.

  “They seem tight,” Rebecca noted.

  “It hasn’t been too long, their etude is pretty good,” Pacifica also observed.

  “Not as good as ours,” Taika boasted.

  The older Maestro rolled his eyes and shook his head. He smiled warmly though, “I’m just glad she’s doing well. She deserves it,” said Shouri. He took in a breath and exhaled slowly.

  “Now there’s only one thing left to do.”