Chapter 1 - Ragazza Volpe Magica
There’s this memory that haunts me. These days, though, it’s more of a distant dream. All I get from it are embers scattered in the wind. The once vivid thoughts and feelings have long since burned out, leaving behind a cold, charred monument. A memorial to my failure, a reminder of what I could have had, a memento of what I lost.
In my mind, bright yellow knowledge swirls together with deep red emotions, all while scant sparks of blue willpower are snuffed out. It’s all trapped in my head, unable to escape.
It's so pointless.
And yet, why do I persist?
Am I some sort of cosmic joke? Perhaps an experiment by some cruel and wicked god to test what it takes to break a man?
Who knows?
Who cares?
I don’t.
Green eyes slowly opened and took in the stinging light of the morning sun. The surroundings were unfamiliar to their owner.
It was a hotel room, one rented out by a certain family for a vacation to an exotic and distant locale.
A vacation one Shouri Tomoshibi had wanted no part of.
The boy sat up in bed, his frazzled brown hair a mangled mess of disorganized tresses. He blinked slowly, assessing his unfortunate situation. Yesterday had been so exhausting he went to bed as soon as they returned, his daywear becoming pajamas without their consent. It was a wonder he didn’t just drop dead.
No, dying took too much effort.
KNOCK KNOCK
“Shouri! Breakfast is here! Hurry up!” an older woman shouted from the other side of the door.
He couldn’t even bring himself to sigh. As much as he wanted to argue, it was far more taxing to protest. The boy slid his legs out of bed, planting his shoes firmly on the ground. He sat for a moment. Might as well get this over with sooner rather than later, he figured.
Putting weight onto his legs was the first step to getting this the hell over with. Thankfully, even with the rampant tourism the day before, his body had yet to quit on him. He flipped up the white hood on his jacket, jammed his hands into his pockets, and left the room.
Greeting him was breakfast… with his parents. The boy quietly strode over and took his seat in front of one of the unclaimed plates.
“So, Shouri,” his mother began, refusing him even a second of peace. “There are some lovely Resonators here in Nevepunto.” She slid over a manilla folder for her son.
Humoring her, he flipped it open and gave the imprisoned documents a once-over. Profiles of various humans bearing animal features such as fluffy tails and furry ears graced his sight. They were described in such a way as to showcase their selling points--as if they were objects.
It was nauseating.
As he pushed down the protesting bile rising in his gut, Shouri closed the folder. None of them were who he was looking for.
“You need to make a choice,” the father now spoke. “You’re eighteen next month. You haven’t done anything since you got out of school,” grumbled the man.
“Your father is right, Shouri. Aura is doing well as a hunter, and you were so eager about having a Resonator when you were younger,” his mother reminded him. “It’d be different if you were going to college, but…” the woman trailed off.
“Just pick one. It’s not that hard,” came the gruff addition from his father. “If you don’t like it, you can just get another.”
Anger was a hell of a motivator, and his father’s flippant attitude instantly set Shouri off. The boy rose with burning conviction. Within him, rage boiled, festered, and exploded under his skin. He wanted to snap. He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream at them. Just as easily as those ugly emotions arose, though, they quickly cooled. He simply could not find the willpower to unleash his bottled vexation. Arguing took too much effort. That didn’t stop the logical part of his brain from letting him know their behavior sickened him. It was exhausting and turned the world cold and grey. This was his every day, his personal flavor of Hell no one knew.
Oh, how he wanted to just “pick one”. It wasn’t that easy! Nobody understood!
He needed away from these people, if they could even be called such. And for that, he walked out.
“Shouri! Shouri!” they shouted, their voices muffled as the door slammed behind him.
Shouri trudged down the streets of Nevepunto--a popular tourist destination found in the northern reaches of Riterra. Even in April, jackets were mandatory as spring was a mere suggestion in latitudes so high. The cold didn’t deter the hustle and bustle of the city. He found himself surrounded by all sorts of people. There were humans like himself, otherwise referred to as Maestros. There were Resonators, the animal-eared and tailed humans his parents were trying to partner him with. Finally, there were Naturals, the far more sparse animalistic bipeds--and the true owners of this particular town.
The young Maestro slowly moved his way through the crowds, hunched over himself, hands balled up in his jacket pockets. He held no fear of being on his own; in the last few days of his stay here, the citizens had been nothing but kind and Nevepunto was beautiful.
The architecture of the Natural settlement matched that of its contemporaries. Plenty of room for cars, while walking room for pedestrians was plentiful. Businesses lined the streets with merchants peddling their wares. Despite being owned by Naturals, there was less fur, scales, or feathers, and more skin going around than one would expect. Tourism was the industry the Naturals of this city prided themselves on--a sharp contrast to their normally reclusive brethren.
It was an enriching experience, though Shouri had hoped to learn more about Naturals--Nevepunto unfortunately was a bust in that regard. He wandered further; perhaps if he found his way out of the tourist death trap part of town, he could surround himself with their true culture, rather than the show they put on for travelers.
Getting lost was of no concern. At worst, his parents would just send his sister after him if he was gone too long. Not that he wanted to be found at the moment. The world was simply too noisy--he needed to find somewhere quiet. Away from the cacophony of civilization. For that, he meandered about until he managed to shed the plastic illusion of Natural society.
The foot traffic evaporated entirely. There were no Maestros or Resonators--only the Naturals. They looked down on the small male Maestro that invaded their neighborhood. Shouri noticed their judgmental gazes but cared not. He wasn’t there to cause trouble.
He slowed to a stop, brushing his hood off of his head as his gaze wandered. It was peaceful here. No worries about life, his parents, Resonators. Perhaps he’d just stay lost. That’d be nice.
The boy’s eyes slowly closed as he stood in the middle of this foreign neighborhood. He, too, was a foreigner himself.
Then it hit him.
In the core of his very being, his soul, his rhythm stirred. A feeling long since lost in the sands of time reignited anew in the boy. He felt a rush he hadn’t felt in nearly a decade.
It was hopelessly intoxicating. His spiritual power guided him to a small warmth in his heart, the muted colors of life slowly saturated with desire. He took hold of the wish buried deep in his soul, refusing to release it. Shouri Tomoshibi was not a boy who wanted, but in that moment he became the greediest individual on all of Riterra. He moved with determination, and nothing would stop him--not even the sharp iron fences that became his company. Contained within the prison of a property was possibly the largest manor in the entire neighborhood. It was massive and stood atop a hill, as if it lorded over the rest of the peasants below.
It wasn’t the manor itself that gripped him. No, it was the girl. All alone, she swept fallen leaves into a neat pile with a finely aged wooden broom.
She was spiritually enrapturing, and Shouri couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She didn’t notice him at first, caught up with her task at hand. Clad in black, the feature that stood out most was the pair of fox ears adorning her head. It came with a matching tail that swayed behind her as she worked. Shouri shook his head, thinking how strange it would be if she turned around and found him staring.
“E-excuse me!” he called out to her. With a twitch of her ears, the girl stopped her work and turned.
“Che?” She tilted her head, her befuddlement worn openly at the sudden call. The girl’s blue eyes met Shouri’s green. After studying the boy for a moment, she spoke again. “Can I help you?” she inquired with a confused lilt.
“Ah, uhh…” He ran a hand back through his messy hair in a late attempt to appear more presentable. His eyes desperately avoided her form, foolishly hoping it’d somehow buy him time to compose himself. There was something about this girl that clicked with him--he was struggling to keep himself from telling his whole life story right then and there. His rhythm was drawn toward her as if she was a blazing fire in the depths of a harsh winter storm.
“What’s your name?” he asked, practiced words flowing as if he had waited his whole life to say them.
The girl remained visibly perplexed, her ears folded back, tail wrapped around her leg as she held her humble broom close to her chest. As he had done before, she avoided direct eye contact. “Taika," she finally spoke after a moment.
“Taika,” he repeated. The warmth of her name on his lips cracked the perpetual frown he typically sported.
“Is there something I can help you with?” she asked again.
Shouri already had the answer to that inquiry. “Do you have a Maestro?”
A silence followed, her shock on full display. Where she avoided his scrutiny before, she now couldn’t tear her eyes off of him. “Nobody’s ever asked me that.” Her lips curled down, surprise turning into contemplation. The thought was short-lived as her brows pinched tight. “I’m a lunar, in case you can’t tell,” she stated matter-of-factly, her grip tightening around the broom handle in her grasp.
He noticed she was eying the still-scattered leaves with concern--she wanted to get back to work; that much was apparent. But maybe…
“In that case, do you think I could be your Maestro?”
In a conversation full of surprise, it was no wonder such a brazen question was met with even further astonishment. “Excuse me?” was all Taika found herself able to utter.
Though his conversational partner was left speechless, Shouri found himself filling the silence before he even realized it. “Well, my family has been on my ass about getting a Resonator since I didn’t go to secondary school. We came here on vacation, and I had hoped that they would stop bugging me during the trip, but they haven’t left me alone.” He paused to catch his breath. “That’s when I ended up here and…” he trailed off, lowering his gaze as he processed his thoughts.
“I just felt something right from you. There’s something about you that I can’t ignore, so I thought…”
The fox-girl took a step back as she shook her head slowly, mouth slightly agape. “I-I can’t.” She turned back to the mansion. The foreboding, ominous manor that seemingly towered over the rest of the buildings in the area. “I’m sorry, I can’t,” she repeated.
That hurt. More than he thought it would. He didn’t want to let go, but his bright yellow logic won out and his shock faded. At least he could leave her with a pleasant memory.
“I understand. It was a crazy idea, just going off with a random guy you’ve never met before.” He hated saying that. “Thank you for your time.” The only smile he could muster was decidedly bittersweet. He took a breath before speaking once more. “Have a good day.”
Taika watched him turn and walk away, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his green jacket as he hung his head in open disappointment. She bit her bottom lip. Yeah, it was kind of strange for this boy to come out of nowhere and ask her to be--
Her brain finally caught up with the present.
“My Maestro…?” It all came to a screeching halt. “My Maestro,” she repeated. “Wait…” And then panic. What had she done? She had just been offered a chance to truly live her life, away from this, and she smacked it away like she was too good for it? What was wrong with her?!
For the scant seventeen years she had been on this planet, she had always been told she would never get a Maestro. No one wanted her. It was beaten into her as an immutable fact. That’s why she was even outside sweeping in the first place. This was the only place she could live--and even then, she was treated less than a servant. And yet...
Do you think I could be your Maestro?
In the span of mere milliseconds, she analyzed and re-analyzed how he addressed her. She normally wasn’t this perceptive, but his speech had a peculiarity to it--just being around him cleared the fog that normally plagued her mind; her thoughts were so clear in his presence that it startled her.
And such a wonderful person asked if he could be HER Maestro, not the other way around. Even when talking to non-lunars, most Maestros would pose such a question as: “Do you want to be my Resonator?” Yet the way Shouri had spoken to her offered such consideration that-
“Non... I made a mistake…” She once more cast her gaze back to the mansion. She had lived her entire life there, and yet never had she considered truly leaving, until this very instant. Throwing the broom down, she bolted, running as fast as her legs would carry her. She didn’t know the boy’s name, but she had to find him at all costs.
Taika was not a lucky girl. She knew that. Everyone knew that. Today, though, would be the day everything changed. It mattered not the path he took. In her heart, she could feel a thin string guiding her to him--a guide she learned to trust as she spotted him trudging along, alone. “HEY!” she shouted.
Shouri slowly turned, only finding the source of the voice as she hit him. The poor boy was nearly bowled over as she slammed into him full force. The only thing that kept him standing was her tight grasp around him as soon as they touched, her arms having shot around his torso in a desperate embrace. “Please take me with you! Don’t leave me here! I’m begging!” she cried out, burying her face in his chest.
Shouri was stunned at the sudden turn. “B-but you said--”
Her tear-soaked face pained Shouri like nails being hammered into his very heart, and the desperate plea that followed threatened to break him. “P-Please! Don’t make me go back! I’ll do anything! Please! Please. Please…” she pleaded as if her very life was on the line.
The boy stood dumbfounded at the outpouring of emotions from the Resonator. Whoever was in that manor wasn’t good for her. With her so close, her physical warmth was dwarfed by that of her spirit. His soul had decided long before his brain. He slowly wrapped his arms around the girl and held onto her tightly. “Don’t worry, you’re not going back.”
“Thank you. Thank you…” she sniveled.
After regaining her composure, she released the boy and stood up straight. She wiped the tears from her face and tried to keep herself calm. With a breath, she spoke. “Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Taika, and if you’ll have me, I’ll be your Resonator.”
“I’m Shouri, and I would be happy to be your Maestro,” the boy replied in kind.
The two smiled at one another, unable to contain their shared relief.
“Sho…” Taika whispered, a small giggle fit taking over.
“Soooo...” The new Maestro rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze drifting away from his new partner. “Do you have a tuner?” was where he decided to start.
She shook her head. “I don’t know how to be a Resonator for a Maestro, to be honest.” The vixen gripped the edge of her worn shirt, lowering her head in a vain attempt to hide the shame.
“That’s alright, I just wish I paid more attention when my sister got her Resonator. I know I need to get a tuner from a place called a Maestro Affairs Office. But I’m kind of fuzzy on the details of what goes into that,” he admitted. “I do have my license already, so hopefully we can just, like, walk in and get it done,” the boy trailed off.
Taika had no input on the matter. He seemed to know way more than she did, so she would defer to his wisdom. “So, what do we do now?” she asked. “I’m your Resonator, so I’ll follow you,” she added.
Shouri just stared, though his heart throbbed with joy. If this was a dream, he’d allow it to take him for just a little bit longer.
“I guess there’s only one real thing to do,” Shouri decided. “I gotta introduce you to my parents.”
Taika’s heart hammered in her chest as she followed her new Maestro. Her tail swished behind her as she took in the halls of the hotel--it was something new that she had never seen before! Even so, the anxiety persisted; she had no idea what to expect from Shouri’s parents. He was nice enough, sure, but she knew how the general public felt about her element. The lunar element was one of shadows and the supernatural--not the most heroic of magic to use. Not that she had a choice in the matter, it was simply what she had been born with.
Her gaze shifted up to her Maestro’s back. She didn’t even know how he felt about her element. He just kind of ignored her when she told him earlier.
Maybe he couldn’t sense it?
“H-hey Sho?” Taika called out to him.
“Yeah?”
She repeated her earlier, unaddressed question. “Y-you do realize I’m a lunar, right?”
“I do.”
He didn’t elaborate further, frustrating the fox. She didn’t get the opportunity to ask for further clarification, as they arrived at their destination. She watched him hover his hand over a scanner affixed to the wall. With a beep, the lock was released and Shouri pulled open the door for his new partner to enter. She gulped and quietly stepped into the room. Shouri closed the door behind them and passed by her to enter the room proper. The lunar Resonator followed close behind, attempting to hide behind the boy.
Both were equally nervous--Taika wasn’t sure what to expect of her new Maestro’s family; likewise, Shouri wasn’t sure how to introduce his new Resonator. Upon turning the corner and facing the familial unit in question, he acted with surprising ease.
“Mom, Dad.” His parents were sitting on the couch, watching television. He glanced over at his sister, at the dining room table finally eating her breakfast. “Aura,” he muttered as an aside. “I found a Resonator,” he announced. Immediately, undivided attention was turned to the family’s youngest, the television swiftly muted at the flick of a wrist.
Shouri turned his head back and motioned for the girl to step out. She gulped hard once more before hesitantly coming forward. Her head slowly trained up to meet the stares of six eyes. She curled in on herself immediately, ears folded back. “A-ah… uh… C-ciao, mi chiamo Taika, è un piacere conoscerti!” she blurted out.
“Naturalian?” Aura muttered to herself, taking note of that quirk.
“In Maelish!” Shouri hissed.
The Resonator jumped in fright. “Oh! I er... I’m Taika! It’s nice to meet you all!” she repeated. The girl kept her head down, unable to bear the judgmental gazes of Shouri’s relatives.
The parents scrutinized the Resonator their son had brought in. Aura, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered by the new girl in the room. “Aha. Is this why nobody meshed with you?” Aura hopped to her feet.
“What’s that?” Shouri folded his arms across his chest, eying his sister as she sauntered over to their pair.
“None of the Resonators Mom picked out for you were as cute as she is.” The elder sibling chuckled, taking a closer look at Taika. The Resonator in question continued to shrink under the observing eyes, cheeks warming uncomfortably at the sister’s appraisal. The two siblings both shot sidelong glances at their parents who remained quiet in the presence of Shouri’s choice in Resonator. “Problem over there?” Aura raised her voice.
“N-no! It’s wonderful that Shouri finally found a Resonator!” their mother spoke up.
“Does it already have a tuner?” the father added upon getting an elbow to his side.
At this point, one of the side doors opened. Taika’s ears twitched, and she caught the gaze of a very intense pair of red eyes. The girl squeaked in fear and grabbed her Maestro’s arm, huddling close to him.
“No, she doesn’t yet,” Shouri replied.
“Where did you even find it?” the father asked.
“On the street,” Shouri replied without missing a beat.
“What’s with our kids picking up strays?” Shouri’s mother whispered to her husband.
“Damian and I can take them down to the MA Office, saw it on the way,” Aura offered.
“If you would Aura, that’d be great.” Their mother smiled at the helpfulness of her daughter.
“Da--” Before Aura could finish calling her own Resonator’s name, Damian stepped out of the side room.
Taika looked the man over--the owner of the red eyes she had spotted before. He was much taller than anyone present. In all honesty, he was a bit lanky, too. He was a canine, that was for sure. Still, she couldn't immediately see his tail
The taller Resonator regarded his lunar counterpart, towering over her even at a distance. “Hmph.” He turned to his Maestro. “We goin’?” he asked, his voice deep, but scratchy.
Taika noted a particular scent radiating off of the man – smoke. Not your nice-smelling wood-burning smoke mind you, but the rich, deep scent of tobacco. It was as if he had put away an entire pack of cigarettes before deciding to join the family.
“Yeah, did you leave the balcony open to air out the room?” Aura asked, arms akimbo.
He glanced back at the slightly ajar door. “Probably,” he replied with a short shrug.
“Good enough, let’s go.”
Aura and Damian took the lead, leaving the hotel room first.
Shouri motioned for Taika to follow, which she did so dutifully. She was still trying to come to terms with what was about to happen to her. It was all happening so fast, but she knew she wouldn’t regret it.