novelraw Chapter 297 - 245 - Doing Something
Chapter 297 - 245 - Doing Something
"It's good to be working with you, Kaira!" Emily beamed, flashing the jackal her own tuner.
Kaira paid back her temporary Maestro a short nod and smile, not focused on Emily. The earth element ensured her sand satchel was full and secured to her waist. Since her talk with the rest of the guild, the jackal cleaned herself up. She took a shower, brushed and braided her hair, and made sure her clothes were on neat and orderly, as usual.
It was strange; being apart from Colette… didn't feel bad. She always thought if she and Colette ever got separated she'd be beyond herself with worry.
But Kaira was just numb. At least to that. She had hope in her heart to finally try something new. And something new she would try. Her provisional Maestro for the evening already asked a favor of her.
"When we get to the hunting grounds, can you help me make Soot a body? It's easier to cart him around this way."
Making a clay golem wasn't something many earth elements could say they've done, and the jackal was most assuredly excited to give it a shot.
Another thing she'd get to try was riding a motorcycle--Emily's preferred method of transport. Ritika and Albarich stayed behind with Vince, to watch the guild hall, and Shouri had his full team plus Miro with him.
She was… excited. Kaira was excited. She giggled to herself. It was such a small thing, which she felt silly about, but at the same time this was freedom. The world looked so vivid, the air smelled good, even the chill of the winter night felt wonderful against her skin.
"Alright Kaira, ready to go?" asked Emily. She looked the jackal up and down, noting her exposed arms and legs. "You sure you're ready?" quizzed the princess.
Sure enough, Emily kitted herself out in her typical motorcycle attire--her trademark goggles that rested atop her head now shielded her eyes, and her usual everyday wear was buried beneath thick pants and a jacket.
"No, I should be fine," Kaira stated firmly.
"Are you suuuuuure?" challenged Emily.
Which shook the jackal. "Uh, yes, I'm sure. You don't need to worry about me."
Emily stared. Even through her goggles, Kaira could see the princess glaring at her paired with a disapproving frown.
"A'ight, bet." The princess broke her stare-down with a turn. She scooped up her helmet and placed it on her head. "Get on." She jerked her head forward to invite the jackal on.
Kaira did as instructed and got up on the back of the bike. She wasn't sure what to do.
"Hold my waist," Emily advised. "I don't mind, especially if we'll be working together tonight."
The jackal gulped and did as she was told, wrapping her arms around the Maestro's midsection.
Emily turned on the bike and immediately Kaira's ears flipped back. The roar of the engine was deafening, especially for her sensitive ears.
"Shouri!" shouted the vice guildmaster.
He rushed over upon being called. "What's up Ems?!" he shouted back.
"We'll be right back!"
"Alright! We'll wait for you!"
With a thumbs up, Emily pivoted her bike off its kickstand and flipped it up. Kaira's eyes bugged out as the vehicle started moving. It was much different from riding in a car. She didn't have to worry about balancing while in a car (granted Emily was an expert at keeping the bike vertical). However, this was nothing, as when Emily hit the asphalt she turned the throttle as far as it could go, and blasted off down the country road, urging the motorcycle to go as fast as it could.
I'm going to die, was the sole thought that ran through poor Kaira's head. The wind stung her, the noise was unbearable, she couldn't keep her eyes open. Her heart hammered so hard she couldn't even utter a scream. She just clung to the Maestro for dear life praying every second that this torment would end.
And finally, it did. When the noise faded, Kaira braved opening her eyes, they were back at the guildhall.
"Alright, go grab Rika's gear, you two are roughly the same size," Emily tittered, leaning the bike back onto its kickstand.
Kaira nodded eagerly and got off the motorcycle. Her first couple of steps were uneasy, but as soon as she got her land legs back she rushed to Emily's room to get fitted with proper riding attire.
She did have to admit, the riding outfit was warm, though she felt her rhythm sense dulled with the heavy garments on.
"Makes us less tasty prey for Scherzando. Though it does make spellcasting pretty friggin' hard," Emily answered the unspoken question as the jackal returned to her.
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"I see," Kaira mumbled as she flexed her gloved digits.
Turned out, riding by motorcycle was much more bearable when outfitted in the proper attire. They arrived to the western Dallivan hunting grounds in what felt like record time. Things just seemed faster on a motorcycle.
"You can take that stuff off. It'll fit in the saddlebags," Emily advised as she pulled off her own jacket and riding pants.
Kaira followed suit, though as she did so, she caught the surrounding muttering.
"Woah, who's that?"
"She's the vice guildmaster of that guild."
"She's got a different Resonator with her today."
"They're both so pretty!"
The jackal folded her ears back. She wasn't pretty. They were just paying lip service to the Maestro in her midst.
"Okay, can you help me with this?" Emily's voice pulled Kaira out of her thoughts.
"R-right."
The other Maestros gathered watched at a distance while the two worked. A figure was drawn in the clay--a melopomorphan biped with a bright red gem as the heart in the center of the torso.
Emily placed her hands at the head of the drawing, and Kaira was at the legs.
"La Forma Della Terra, Tutti," Emily cast.
Kaira felt her breath stolen from her for a second as the princess gave her rhythm to the jackal. It was so different taking in a different Maestro's rhythm.
… Colette was weak.
She was barely a candle flickering in the wind, where Emily was a bright blaze that lit the entire sky with her luminescence. And Emily bowed to Shouri. Even watching the battles in Naiza, Shouri eclipsed them all. Desmond, for as frightening as he was couldn't even touch Shouri directly.
That was true power and together with his Resonators they walked straight into hell with a wave and a smile.
It made her heart ache. She could be that powerful. She could be that stubborn. She could be that bright.
Her place wasn't with Colette.
It couldn't be.
And yet, her heart broke every time the thought crossed her mind.
What was the point of anything if Colette wasn't with her?
Colette didn't know what she was doing. She had coursework to do. Yet, here she was in the eastern hunting grounds. She needed to take her mind off Kaira.
Nina was willing to help.
What was nice about having a fire element was the cold resistance. Winter was comfy now. Nothing but perks to having the Ethereal around. Flying wasn't even that bad. It was kind of scary being so high up, but Nina didn't need rhythm to fly; she was an infinite reservoir. They could just fly wherever she wanted.
Nobody paid her any mind, not even Nina in her beautiful reds, whites, and blues promoted discussion about them. Where some things changed, a larger measure stayed the same.
"Oh, this spell list."
The registrar rubbed his eyes as he studied Colette's red tuner. "Can you handle the flank? With this firepower I don't see a problem."
Colette looked to her small Resonator, who motioned with her head to answer.
"Uh, yeah, it should be fine," came her meek reply.
"Great, that saves us some hassle tonight. West flank, enjoy."
As Colette walked away, she stared at the spell list. Nina had quite literally everything of her element, every ultimate, every shielding spell, every healing spell, every fire ossia. They were all just a call away. There were spells present Colette had never heard of.
"Famiglio Incendio, Presto," she called absentmindedly.
"Hm?" Nina perked up as she was requisitioned to cast the spell. "Alright," the Ethereal spoke with a small laugh. With a snap of her finger, a small fire bird appeared in the caster's hand. The flame beast extended its wings that bore the likeness of its summoner and took flight. It streaked around the forest eventually perching on Colette's shoulder.
"You like that one?" wondered Nina.
"Ah, uh… Shouri uses it a lot," Colette trailed off. "I just wanted to see what yours looked like," she admitted, quieter.
"I see," said the phoenix. "Let's go."
Colette obediently followed her Resonator deeper into the woods. Nina moved on her own, not waiting for a command. Flames trailed behind her as she easily dispatched Scherzando with no input from the scholar.
Even the lucky Scherzando that landed a blow on the bird met a small explosion.
Trivial. The Scherzando were playthings when compared to the might of a legendary phoenix.
What was Colette even doing here?
The longer her mind had to wonder, the longer the question festered.
Am I useless?