Chapter 18 - In the Mountains

“Bwuh…?” Holly’s eyes fluttered open as the bus suddenly lurched her awake. Her bewildered head turns slowed as she realized what was happening – they were stopping somewhere.

The window told her of the passage of time. Mid-morning had long faded to night. She had slept the whole trip?

No, that wasn’t right. By her estimation, they should have been arriving in the early morning. Further inspection into what little of her surroundings she could make out, this was no big city nestled in the woods. Instead, it was a small village in the mountains. Even so, they stopped for some reason.

Still shaking off her grogginess, Holly ventured toward the front of the bus. She made her way down the shallow steps to the lower bunk of the transport. “What’s going on?” she asked the driver while the other passengers got off.

“Gotta recharge the bus, also meal break,” said the driver.

“Meal?” Holly’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, there’s a couple of good shops ‘round here. Don’t turn your nose up at ‘em just cause they’re remote,” the man laughed heartily.

“Meal!” Holly skipped off the bus, excited for the prospect of sampling more cuisine.

Even in the dead of night, the remote village was well-lit. It was almost too bright. Holly imagined the town must have looked like a star nestled in the mountains with how luminous it was.

What’s more, a few Maestros and Resonators were making the humble little stop their roost for the night. Well, perhaps they wouldn’t do much sleeping, as Holly observed the pairs seemed to be patrolling the settlement, chatting idly amongst themselves as they did so.

“Thank god the pay is good,” said one Maestro.
“Food’s awesome, can’t argue with the price of free,” his Resonator said in turn.
“Got that right!”

Ah, there it was. Like Pietri, the service of these individuals was down to simple bartering – they protected the rest stop in the mountain village, and in turn, they got food and money for the trouble.

She was probably going to have to pay for her meal, being a traveler and not hired help. Either way, if that other Resonator’s testimony was to be believed, it’d be worth whatever price they asked.

Holly let her nose lead the way and she found herself in what amounted to a shack with several small tables. A sign near the front said simply “Seat yourself,” so she did just that.

Looking around, Holly realized at one point in the humble building’s life, that it must have been someone’s home but was converted into a business. She thought it was a smart use of resources, considering how small the town was as a whole.

A Resonator girl in plain clothes deposited a menu with the zalavan and allowed her a moment to review the offerings.

The menu wasn’t much. Simple soups and sandwiches. When the serving Resonator returned, Holly just asked for whatever she recommended.

That earned Holly a sandwich and soup combo.

Meat, cheese, and a smattering of veggies between two pieces of bread. Holly had seen sandwiches before, but she never had one. She understood immediately why books always praised the humble sandwich with ubiquity – such a simple form factor made eating it easy and changing out the central ingredients offered possibilities Holly could never hope to exhaust.

The soup paired quite nicely with the bread of the sandwich – a reddish creamy soup, with a sweet tang to it. “Tomato I think,” Holly guessed as she sipped her meal.

When all was said and done, Holly paid for her food with gratitude, not even minding the upcharge bringing her total to twenty-five notes for the experience. These people earned their money.

However, it was only upon leaving the humble little eatery that Holly found trouble. For once she wasn’t directly involved. The elderly woman from before was pleading with a pair of the hired Maestros as well as an older man.

“Please! You have to find my little Ṃ̶̢̪͇͘á̶̹͖͙x̸͇̗͎͈͋! I turned away for a second and he must have wandered off!” the elder woman continued to beg.

Holly went to leave – they had a handle on this between the two Maestros and their complement of Resonators. Despite her intention to leave it be she found herself walking toward the group.

“I’m sorry lady, there’s no way we can spare the resources to help,” said one of the Maestros.
“Do any of you possess the lunar detection spell?” asked the older man.
“No elder, none of us have a Resonator capable of that,” said the other Maestro.

The two Resonators wore their frustration openly but didn’t speak up. How odd.

In their place, Holly found herself speaking. “Uh, excuse me.”

The six turned to the small Resonator.

The old man spoke on behalf of the group. “I’m sorry lass, there’s a situation and-”

“You need the detection spell?” She knew it was rude to cut him off, but also they were wasting time. “I can use that spell, but only if I have seeds that make you feel funny like…” Holly pretended to think hard. “Cannabus!” she purposefully flubbed.

“Drugs?” one of the Maestros asked the other, who shrugged back.

“You’re a zalavan, aren’t you?” asked the old man.
“I am. My name’s Holly and I’m a holly!” she beamed.
“I understand. Wait here.” With much more mobility than she would have thought for a man of his decay, the elder sprinted off. He returned only a couple of moments later, only a smidge out of breath for the exertion.

“Can you use these?”

Holly accepted a small satchel, not too different from her own. She tugged open the string and felt inside; it was all of one seed type. Her eyes widened as the distinct gentle darkness of the lunar element oozed from the pouch.

“These are coca seeds,” she muttered.
“Coca seeds? Like the stuff in cocaine?” asked one of the Maestros.
“They grow naturally in these mountains. That is a collection we confiscated from a tourist. Though as one of Sage Lanvi’s dear children, you are more than welcome to take them with you, provided you use them to help find the lost child,” said the elder.

She didn’t know what “cocaine” was, but what she did know was there were a ton of seeds in the small sack – with this many she wouldn’t need to re-stock for a long while. All for the low cost of finding that cat boy who helped her earlier.

“Leave it to me!” Holly grinned.

---

Now bearing a second seed satchel, Holly burned five of her new acquisitions.

“Rilevare l’intenzione, Lento.”

The terrain around was steep, she could feel as much as she pinged the mountain for signs of the missing cat. It seemed that knowing what she was looking for helped – as a familiar blip registered on her mental map and she departed from the village towards her quarry. There was a certain tinge of pride in the young plant as she was trusted by the village protectors and the elderly woman to handle the task alone.

As she walked through the darkness she was reminded of her first night alone in the woods. How dark it was, and how quickly things went wrong when a Scherzando got the better of her.

That wouldn’t happen again – especially when it wasn’t just her life on the line.

She sensed a Scherzando in a nearby tree. What a foolish blight on reality. Holly placed a palm on the trunk and with a mental chant of “Rullante di Radice, Fortissimo,” the beast was skewered by roots erupting from the trunk.

“Simple beast,” Holly chuckled.

Burning more of her new coca seeds, she refreshed her mental map. The cat was moving slowly, cautiously. His ping was vibrant, so she assumed that meant he was well enough to “reflect” her ping back at her.

A realization hit her. There were blips on her mind map that surrounded him, hostile blips.

“Damn it!” She ran. As Holly made her mad dash toward the defenseless cat, she opened her primary seed satchel and shoved her fist into it. “Preschiverò! Preschiverò! Preschiverò!” She burned away a good handful of her cacao beans in the process, but the bursts of speed as she repeatedly turned from flesh to lightning got her to the cat just in the nick of time.

As the Scherzando leaped from the trees to finally feast upon their prey, a bolt of Holly appeared, grabbed the boy, and tumbled to the ground, saving him from certain demise.

The beasts turned to Holly who breathed hard, while holding the bewildered boy close. They pounced, she cast.

“Onda Mentale, Allegro!”

Two coca seeds burned away, as lunar magic manifested from Holly’s outstretched palm. The power of her mind unleashed a telekinetic force that swept up the beasts within the wave of mental energy.

She showed them no quarter – the same hand that telekinetically brushed them away like dirt snapped to a nearby tree. Her next spell wasn’t nearly as kind.

“Foglie a Lame, Fortissimo Staccato!!”

The nature the Scherzando hid themselves in betrayed their kind for a second time tonight as Holly drew in its wrath to launch a deadly barrage of bladed leaves. The shadow beasts stood no chance as they were effortlessly sliced to ribbons under the brutal assault of the natural element.

The madness ended as quietly as it started. Holly looked at the child still in her protective grasp. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice chipper not to hide herself, but in service of the child’s anxiety.

“I-I just wanted to get Gamma a pretty flower and…” His bottom lip quivered and he sniffled as the tears began to flow free. Next Holly knew, the cat threw himself into her chest, hugging her tightly and bawling as loudly as he could muster.

Holly allowed a thin smile. Helping people like this felt good.

---

“THANK YOU! THANK YOU!”

The gratitude felt nice.

Nice wasn’t a strong enough word. It felt great. It felt like Holly mattered. It felt like she was worth something. What’s more, watching the elderly woman cry tears of joy while holding her precious Resonator, was a nice happy ending. She was a good Maestro. The little cat boy apologized repeatedly for wandering off, but he cried the same relief as his Maestro.

Holly looked to the second seed pouch. Mental magic was useful, and more than worth her time. Her gaze stole the joy of the reunited pair one more time. Nah, that was the real prize, the seeds were just a happy little bonus.