novelraw Chapter 324 - 266 - Chasing the Dawn
Chapter 324 - 266 - Chasing the Dawn
The pieces connected so cleanly, but there was always a couple missing.
Desmond had to be working for the René Group. At the very least, he partnered close to them. Abilene and the Forest Kalimba--Briar, publicly worked for the group. This evening they were attacked by Desmond and Shouri was halted from coming to Vince and Solana's aid by Abilene and Briar.
What threw a wrench into the whole idea was what Briar managed to tell Rebecca during the struggle.
He's holding Abby hostage.
Ethereals were powerful, immortal beings.
Their Maestros were not.
Nina said so herself. The Orchestra of Heaven were loyal to a fault. Abilene was probably a good person, but currently she didn't act under her own volition.
It was a messy situation. One which urged caution, despite wanting to throw themselves at an attempted rescue.
What complicated matters was Abilene acted perfectly fine in public. Pacifica said she didn't sense anything amiss when they had met earlier in the day. Even when they fought later on that same day, the most one could say was it was kind of weird that Abilene threw a match they could have probably won.
Knowing Briar was actually the legendary Forest Kalimba explained that away. She couldn't appear to be too good--otherwise the jig was up. What was better than a few scripted losses?
Not only had Vince and the others been injured and almost killed, but now they had to deal with the idea of a super powerful vampire that worked for the René Group. Shouri suspected it before, but now it was all but confirmed--it was as if someone dumped a barrel of fuel into the blaze of his worry. To make matters worse was the Ethereal in their back pocket. Perhaps Sage Luca would take pity on him and let him crash on the fabled Lontano Island for a spell. That must be why Rufus sought it out with such reckless abandon.
Pacifica placed a hand on Shouri's shoulder. She gripped it tight and pushed her calming rhythm into him.
"We'll get through it," she whispered. He appreciated her not saying it'd be okay. It very much was not at that moment.
Rebecca was being seen for her legs, which she hurt during her fight with Briar. Zephyr was in a Viva Unit. Vince was being seen by a doctor. Mila was silent. The cat refused treatment, and mumbled something about wasting their time, and she's had worse. Taika all but pinned the cat down and forced her to accept a La Bella Vita.
Shouri understood Mila's reasoning. It wasn't just the members of PTRS who had been hurt. A lot of people around Solana's stall got caught in the cross-fire, including a zalavan girl he wasn't familiar with. Not to mention the dozens of other Maestros who tried to play hero and were attacked as a result.
He considered that the zalavan was the target of Desmond's ire. The math checked out. Zephyr was a mirage and targeted just like zalavan.
Speaking of the plant, she strolled out of the ER, sporting a couple of bandages and a bottle of water to boot. She locked eyes with the guildmaster and his pair of Resonators. Her gaze awkwardly shuffled between the trio and her water bottle. After mumbling something under her breath, she approached Shouri.
"Hi," she started.
"Hi," Shouri replied. Taika grabbed his hand and he calmed at the sudden zalavan who approached them.
"You're Shouri, right?"
"I am."
"Can we join your guild?"
The guildmaster in question blinked. "We?"
"Solana, me, Vivi, and Lee," she clarified.
Shouri nodded slowly. "I know three of those names--who are you?"
The grass haired girl flushed with embarrassment. "S-sorry! Long night--I'm Holly," she finally introduced herself.
Holly half expected for the guildmaster to let the silence hang as she totally botched her introduction.
He did no such thing. "Okay."
"Huh?" Holly blinked, allowing herself to look the boy in the face.
"As far as I understand, you and Solana have been taking care of Vince and all of them. He was pretty excited by the prospect of you all joining us. We just so happen to have a vacancy right now." Shouri mulled that thought over for a moment. "Actually, do you think Solana would be interested in being our financial officer?" he questioned.
"What would that entail?" Holly returned the inquiry with one of her own.
"I'd have to ring up Klein about it, but basically managing the guild's finances, our money."
"She probably wouldn't--but I'd love to take on that job uhh, provided someone tells me what the heck I'm doing." The Resonator laughed louder than she intended.
"Yeah, don't worry about that, comes with free training," Shouri smirked. He held out a hand for the zalavan. "Welcome to the guild."
Holly stared at the outstretched hand like it was an alien relic. "That's it?" she questioned wearily.
"I am the guildmaster. Technically, I can just decide to let someone in. I don't do things that way usually, but I don't think anyone is gonna have an issue with it. Especially since, if nothing else, we have a common enemy," said Shouri.
"Oh, you've seen that cryptid before?" Holly asked.
Shouri lowered his arm. "What do you mean cryptid?"
A look of realization hit the plant. "Oh no, you don't know. Okay, so uh, I guess I'll start at the top." She took a breath and began to speak.
She told them about how she was kidnapped from her home, and how she managed to get away from her kidnappers. It all led to eventually fighting one of the top brass of the René Group, and the strange Resonators they wielded--the cryptid.
"I think I've heard something like that before. Like tales of Resonators that were born from stories or something like that," Taika mumbled.
"I can't imagine you'd find them in duelist circles, seeing how they prevent recordings," Pacifica mused.
The conversation lulled as the ambiance of the hospital buzzed on around them. Despite the late hour, Desmond's little stunt made the staff on call earn their paychecks that evening. Doctors rushed from room to room, nurse Resonators pushed carts and supplies about, while patients groaned about what ailed them.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Holly coughed. "So uh, yeah, we're in?" she confirmed.
"Definitely. I'll let my vice-guildmaster know and we'll get you all officially part of the guild register," Shouri agreed.
"Great! Thank you!" Holly beamed.
They returned to the ambiance of the hospital at two in the morning. The hum of medical equipment, the beeping of alarms, the frantic rushing of staff to and fro.
"I'm gonna uh, find my Maestro now. Dunno where she's gotten off to," Holly decided.
"Sure, have a good night, Holly."
Shouri was thankful Holly left when she did, as the next thing to bother him was the ring of his tuner.
Cheryth Arkwright
Both Taika and Pacifica put a hand on their Maestro's shoulder, and pushed both motiviation and grace into him before he pressed the screen to answer.
"Hello, Shouri speaking," he decided to start cordial.
"Oh no, did the vampire get you?" fretted Cheryth.
"What? No. We've talked about this," Shouri grumbled.
"Ah, there he is. Sorry, not used to you answering my calls so cordially," chuckled the liaison.
An annoyed grunt told her how he felt about that.
"Anyway, how is everyone?" she cut to the chase.
Shouri let his gaze lazily drift around the hospital waiting room. Besides new patients being wheeled in, the families of those undergoing treatment littered the lobby. The anxiety hung thick in the air.
What was supposed to have been a fun little festival basically became a tragedy overnight. The boy hoped there were no casualties in the chaos.
"Alive," he replied curtly.
"Well, that's something, at least,"
"We in trouble?" Shouri asked the pertinent question.
"No, not at all. Your heroics this evening were above board." She added a quiet "for once" that Shouri caught, but chose to ignore (he was too tired to deal with it.)
"We got a new guild member out of it," said the boy.
"Oh? I'm sure I'll see the paperwork cross my desk soon, but who is it?" asked the guild liaison.
"Solana Leduc."
There was a moment of terse silence, silence so quiet Shouri wondered if she had hung up on him.
The woman sighed. "Of fucking course. I don't know why I thought you'd get someone normal," Cheryth groaned.
"Hey hey, I've met Solana a few times on my journey. She's a hell of a cook and an even better Maestro. She's gonna fit in fine," Shouri defended the honor of his new guild member.
"No no, it's not that. Ms. Leduc comes with some, how do you say, baggage?"
"Baggage?"
"You'll see."
He didn't like those words, but then again, if felt like if something wasn't wrong with his perspective recruits or they didn't manage to get themselves into trouble, they weren't PTRS material.
Vince's eyes shot open with alarm, a sharp breath stinging his lungs as if he broke free from the ocean's depths. By his side was the one person he hadn't expected--
"M-miro?" asked the boy.
"Vince!" the Natural exclaimed. "Are you feeling okay?" asked the earth fox, rushing to the Maestro's side.
Vince was in a hospital bed. He didn't have any wires or the like attached to him, nor had he been put in a gown. He was just in his normal clothes. He reached up and rubbed his cheek, the one slashed by the vampire. Smooth, perfectly so.
The white glow of the sterile lights and walls was blinding. It made him wonder how he was even able to sleep in such an environment. The noise too was incredible; quiet, but loud at the same time. A hushed sort of cacophony where all manner of things happened around him without knowledge of what actually went down.
Privacy curtains surrounded the boy and fox, so thankfully no one had to see him in his sorry state.
He felt his sides and his heart sank. "Where are Mila and Zephyr?" he voiced his primary concern, as both tuners were missing from their usual spot.
"Mila is okay. Zephyr is in a tube," Miro replied.
"And Shouri?" asked Vince, quieter.
Miro paused. "Shouri is fine. He just seems to be--" the Natural considered his word choice, "--thinking, a lot."
That tracked. At least their guildmaster was okay, but still, Vince found frustration bubbling in his chest. He knew how Shouri and his girls felt after they got trounced by Desmond. It was almost unfair how powerful the vampire was. He had speed and power all in one form. The only thing he appeared to lack was magic, and that he could get by whatever he did to that woman.
His jaw locked tight as he heard his teeth grind in his ears. Vince didn't expect to be the strongest in the world, but when push came to shove, there wasn't anything he could do. All the hunts in the world couldn't prepare him to face a foe that truly wanted to harm him.
Scherzando were essentially predictable machines.
Desmond was in a whole other universe of power.
Yet, Vince didn't feel like he wanted to figure out how to brute force his way through this obstacle.
There had to be another path he could take, one that would prepare them--him, Mila, and Zephyr--to take on such a foe.
"I'll go get Mila," offered Miro.
"Thanks Miro, I'd appreciate that."
As the fox Natural rushed off, Vince was thankful. He wanted to talk to Mila and Zephyr. Their future was with the guild, he knew that much. However, tonight made him realize he wouldn't be satisfied with just being a hunter. There had to be something more he could do, something more he could be, something more he could offer.
Just what that was, he couldn't be sure at that moment.