novelraw Chapter 326 - 268 - Four Heavier, Same Old Problems
Chapter 326 - 268 - Four Heavier, Same Old Problems
"Uhhh, bossman, I think we have a problem," Rebecca reported.
The math didn't add up when she compared their traveling group to their vehicle. They had just managed to get everyone in seats on the way to Jenteri. With Holly, Solana, Vivi, and Lee now in their ranks the seat situation was dire.
"I guess it's a good thing all of our stuff got destroyed, huh?" Solana chuckled.
"Tie me to the roof, I got this," Vivi suggested.
"We're not doing that," Holly and Shouri spoke in unison. The two looked at one another and nodded in agreement.
Rebecca sighed. "You're gonna make me drive an even bigger vehicle, aren't you?" she asked her Maestro.
"Well, that wasn't the original plan; don't have much of a choice now," Shouri replied. "Man, I wish we thought about this before exactly right now." He slumped over as they started to trudge back inside the hotel lobby to figure out their vehicle situation.
The twelve-strong group sat around, while Shouri made some calls. Finally, after about an hour of calling around, he managed to find a service willing to rent them a twelve-seater van. Rebecca was not pleased, but one irritated look from Shouri silenced her building protests.
He was done with today already.
It was rather unfortunate that they hadn't considered the transportation until the morning of their departure. As a result of the delays, the packed van only left Jenteri at around noontime.
"Fuck, we're gonna get there at like ten," Shouri cursed, as he studied the map.
"It'll be fine, Sho." Pacifica reached up and rested a hand on her Maestro in the front passenger seat.
The boy let out a sigh, but allowed himself a small smile as he listened to Solana and her party eagerly chat with Vince and his party.
It was worth it in the end. Their guild, their family, grew larger and for the good. Solana was a kindred spirit. He wasn't sure why she clicked with him so well. Perhaps it had to do with the "baggage" Cheryth mentioned. Not that it bothered him. Whatever it was had to be something external to her, as he felt he'd see eye-to-eye with her on a lot.
Holly was an interesting character, too. The way she carried herself wasn't like any Resonator he had encountered before. She almost had the confidence of a Maestro.
Not to mention Lee and Vivi. Lee and Taika talked at length about medical stuff, comparing notes, all that jazz. Mila and Vivi discussed exercise routines, while Vince pleaded with the two fire elements to go easy on him (his request was swiftly denied).
Now all that remained was the trip home.
"Sahji, leave me the hell alone," Shouri whispered, reclining his head back in his seat.
Much to Shouri's absolute shock, the next two days flew by and without incident at that!
They weren't home yet, so Shouri's optimism had bottomed out as they rode down the final road that led to their humble little guildhall. "We're gonna turn the corner and the damn thing is gonna be a pile of ash, watch."
"Our guildmaster everyone," Mila jeered from the back.
"Ball of optimism, that one," Vivi chimed in.
"It'll be fine, Sho," Pacifica urged hope in the face of his unending pessimism.
Hope that was well-founded it turned out, as their guildhall had not been burned to the ground, looted, crushed by a meteor, or caught in a spontaneous explosion. The humble little motel turned home stood just as it always did, innocuous and quaint.
When the van turned into the property, Solana and her crew perked up.
"This is it?" Vivi questioned.
"Yeah, welcome home," Mila chuckled.
As soon as they parked, everyone piled out of the van, with the four newcomers looking around with curiosity. It was a massive chunk of land, and with their "home" taking up so little of the property, there was much room for growth. Possibly literally, as Holly began to appraise the plants on the land. Not much outside of standard grasses and some trees she couldn't identify at a glance due to the distance.
Of course, the large van approaching and parking alerted those who stayed behind.
Emily emerged first. "Shouri! Welcome back--!" The princess stopped as spotted the new additions. "With friends," she said, quieter.
The Luna native studied the four newcomers, who in turn, appraised her back. Without her Resonators by her side, Emily might as well have just been another girl. No one special.
Ritika's departure from the room didn't inspire much contemplation. A standard earth cat. "Who are they?" asked the Resonator.
"Dunno," Emily muttered back.
Next was a surprise. Albarich popped out. "Why are you two blocking the doorway?" the lunar dragon grumbled.
"A dragon," Holly noted. She had seen the species in passing, but never up close.
Finally, was the biggest shocker. Initially, it looked like a man stepped out of the room behind the trio that had popped out. Upon closer inspection, however, it appeared he was made of clay.
The strange man didn't speak, he instead moved his hands, making several gestures at the blonde haired Maestro.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"Dunno," Emily replied. "Shouri's still in the van."
"Ah!" Holly exclaimed in realization, pointing at the tall, clay-skinned man. "That's a golem!"
"Oh!" Lee adjusted his glasses, inspecting the strange Resonator closer. "Why I do believe you are right, Lady Holly," he agreed.
"They're the fire mirage, right?" questioned Solana.
Holly nodded. "Yeah, super rare too."
"More fire elements. Sensing a bit of a pattern here," Vivi mumbled.
At that moment, the fourth door opened, and another Maestro stepped out. A red-haired woman rubbed her eyes, clearly just waking up. Behind her was an earth element canine species of some kind.
That wasn't the interesting part. What drew the attention of Vivi was the fourth fire Resonator the guild possessed. This girl was the smallest of all, having the stature of a child. Looks were deceiving, as this winged girl radiated such an intense heat, Vivi could feel it even at this distance. The little girl rubbed her eyes, ruffling her feathers as she tried to wake up.
When she locked eyes with the newcomers, the girl tensed, her tail feathers whipping behind her.
"Whas goin' on?" asked Colette blearily.
"Everyone, in the office! Got some announcements!" Shouri called.
It was apparent that the little office would not work for this in the future. They had way too many people now.
Solana, Holly, Vivi, and Lee stood at the back of the office with Shouri, the entire rest of PTRS stood before the guildmaster and their new allies.
"Alright, so to catch up Emily and Colette's groups. We got attacked by that vampire again. He went after Vince this time," Shouri began.
Eyes were turned to the youngest of the group. He wore his frustration openly. It was obvious what happened. Yet he, Mila, and Zephyr didn't have a scratch on them, so those unaware could breathe easy, at least.
Shouri nodded slowly and decided to move on. "Secondly, you see our new friends here. They'll be joining us as permanent members of the guild starting today."
Rather than the Maestro speaking first, the nature element took the lead. "Hi! I'm Holly, I'm a zalavan, it's nice to meet you all," beamed the plant.
"I am Lee, an axoltol. It's a pleasure to join you all," said the water element.
"Vivi, fire-piercing Linsang," came the gruff greeting.
All that left was the Maestro. She took a breath. "I'm Solana," she began. "Yes, that Solana, I only ask you don't bring up my family, please."
Shouri stroked his chin in thought. He had a nasty feeling Cheryth's warning had something to do with her disdain for her family. Either way, not a problem to be addressed right now (hopefully never, if he had his way.)
The guildmaster took over. "I've worked with them a few times here and there, but they expressed interest in our guild and I think we will work well with them," Shouri announced.
"I trust them," Vince spoke up. There was a certain tenseness to the way he spoke that told the rest who weren't there part of what happened.
"Okay, so I guess we should get the rest of the introductions off the table already," Shouri motioned to Emily and Nina specifically.
Emily smiled and stepped forward. "Well, my fellow guildmaster didn't think it was a good idea to tell his co-lead what was happening, so it's nice to meetcha! I'm Emelia Seijo, the daughter of the king and queen of Luna."
The four newcomer's expressions all went blank.
"E-excuse me?" Holly squeaked.
"Wait wait wait," Vivi shook her head. "That means your a princess, right? Like a genuine princess?"
"I do believe that is what that means, Vivi," Lee appraised the plain looking girl again. For some reason, she just didn't feel like who she claimed to be.
"I just go by Emily. As far as the Lunar courts are concerned, I might as well not exist. Either way, I'm stoked to be working with you all," the blonde girl grinned toothily.
With her piece said, Emily returned to the rest of the gathered guild members. That just left the small, child-like Resonator; the one Vivi had her eye on since they arrived.
"Go ahead Nina, I trust them," Shouri urged.
The small girl grunted uneasily, let out a breath and spoke. "I'm Nina, but my true title is the Blaze Lyre of the Orchestra of Heaven."
Mirages were one thing, a golem and a fairy were insane to just run into, especially two collected in one place like this.
Nobody just runs into an Ethereal.
As such, Solana and her Resonators were totally speechless.
"Just treat me like a normal Resonator. It's easier that way," with her warning imparted, Nina returned to Colette, grabbing her Maestro's hand and leaning into her side.
Holly's gaze studied the gathered guild. They were all very close to their partners. Vince and Shouri showed that off. She was quite certain Shouri was more with his Resonators than the others, but their mission statement wasn't a lie.
These people really did truly love Resonators and cherished their bonds with each other.
After that meeting, the rest of the guild parted ways, which left Shouri, Emily, and their new regular in Holly.
"Surprised she's the one joining us," Emily noted.
"Ah… we have a bit of an arrangement. If you need to ask Solana her opinions on things, go through me, I speak for our team," Holly told the other two.
Shouri nodded. She wasn't kidding, that was certainly the odd arrangement, but he cared not.
"Holly agreed to take over Klein's role as our finance person," Shouri informed Emily.
"Ah, gotcha. Did you already let him know?" asked the vice-guildmaster.
"Yeah. Said he'll be here sometime this week to give her the crash course," he said.
"Who is this guy anyways?" asked Holly. The name sounded familiar, but she didn't have a good idea of who it could be.
"Oh, uh, Elijah Klein, the heir to the Klein Foundation," Emily replied.
Holly blinked. That was a name she knew.
"S-seriously? Who in the world are you people?" she uttered.
Shouri sighed. "Just a guy hopped up on fox girl rhythm, I swear."