novelraw Chapter 334 - 276 - Dreams of Peace
Chapter 334 - 276 - Dreams of Peace
"2500"
"Come on, look at its' pedigree, you're not going to lowball me like that. 4000."
"Three grand is as high as I'm going--look at that spell list."
"It does have its' ad-Lib."
"True, but still if it's going to be of any use to me, I'm going to have to grind those spells. That's rhythm out of me, buddy."
"Tch, I could just walk away."
"How many offers have you gotten for it? Be real."
"You'll do three?"
"Three grand."
"Fine, haven't been able to move it anyways, three it is."
This wasn't the first time he watched a similar transaction go down, and it wouldn't be the last. After the transaction was confirmed, his tuner was handed over to the guy with the dragon. He didn't need to be told twice, and stepped over to his new Maestro's side.
"Pleasure doing business with you," said her new owner.
"Whatever."
He didn't know his previous Maestro that long. He was "trade bait" as it was called. Just a pretty face to sweeten a deal. It'd been a couple months since he even cast a spell, or did anything besides eat or sleep.
Most would have gone mad, not him. He was simply numb to the process. Long had he lost count of his Maestros. Some stood out more than others. He didn't even remember the name of the last guy that walked out on him. Maybe it started with a T? He honestly couldn't recall.
This new one wasn't much to look at either. Actually, it was a surprise he could even afford him. His clothes were well worn, but handled with care. That didn't stop the flame pattern at the bottom of his salmon colored jacket from fading to nothing more than an outline. His jacket collar even had a flame motif.
An element specialist. Not the first one he'd been handed off to. The dragon he kept in his company shared an element with him.
The Maestro appraised him again. He reached out and grabbed his tie, looking it over. Then moved his jacket, examining the material closely. He flicked his skirt out. He stayed statue still, he didn't flinch, he didn't even flick his tail in annoyance.
He should have been disgusted being looked at like that. Every minutia of his outfit scrutinized by this Maestro's gaze.
Numb--that's all he felt. It hadn't been the first time, probably wouldn't be the last.
His rhythm was cold. He had trained himself not to react to it. Still didn't make it suck any less.
"What do you think, Liza?" asked the Maestro of his dragon.
The dragon, too, appraised him. "Well, they do have their ad-Lib. So, I figure they gotta be pretty damn strong." A glint appeared in Liza's eyes. "Honestly, you should see if their ad-Lib is any good. Maybe you don't even have to waste any rhythm."
And there it was. This didn't always happen, but it was a common enough occurrence that he knew exactly how this was going to go down. He closed his eyes--
"Rebecca, pay attention."
And that's when Shouri realized it--this was Lyle. God, he just wanted to swing on him right now. The smug bastard handling Rebecca like this boiled him to his core. Nothing would be more cathartic than making that piece of shit bite the curb and stomping down. Liza be damned, he could find her a better Maestro than this shit stain. If he ever saw Lyle again, it wouldn't be pretty. The wrath he'd rain down would make Sage Kitori draw pause.
"Pretty intense, bossman," Rebecca's voice tempered his rage. Her warmth brought him back to reality.
"You didn't deserve to be treated like that."
"I know. It's all fucked. But hey, don't go to jail. I need you, I love you."
"I love you too."
It was morning, or perhaps afternoon. The tent was nice and toasty from the sun overhead. Poor Pacifica was a puddle of sweat nearby, but for the two bonded deeper than physicality, the heat was marvelous.
"I am not dealing with her catching evaporation illness. Let's wake her up," said Shouri.
"Hey, get up," the two spoke in unison, shaking the otter.
"Let me dieeeee," whined the Water element.
"Not allowed," said the two bonded by fire.
No one else in the tent city was awake yet. Shouri and Rebecca figured everyone was wiped out from the intensity of last night's battles. Hopefully, there would be relief soon. One quick trip via Lento Famiglio Incendio brought the trio down to the canyon floor.
"How do you two do that?" Pacifica whimpered, her legs still shaking from the ride down via fox mount.
"Lot'sa practice," said the linked pair.
A lot of the flood waters had dried up, so they could walk through the town. The damage was still pretty significant. They figured this area wasn't built for torrential rain like that, being a drier region of the world.
As the trio walked, Shouri (through Rebecca), noticed a shift in the Natural's attitudes. Where he was used to Naturals being kind of cagey about Maestros and their Resonators, today they were the opposite. There was a distinct feeling of respect and gratitude towards the guild as a whole.
"That's probably how that Dee chick got their respect--she helped them on a previous night," Rebecca commented.
Pacifica shrugged. "Not much different between Naturals and Maestros, I guess."
"Yeah, too bad there's like two millennia of war, death, and prejudice keeping us from all holding hands in a circle and singing Sage Lanvi's praises," Shouri scoffed.
They continued to wander through town. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't entirely devoid of technology. In fact, there were a lot of solar panels, a rare technology that utilized the rhythm and energy from the sun for power generation. It meant that when they came across a restaurant, it was cooled.
"Blech," Rebecca groused.
"What's wrong?" asked Pacifica.
"Mildewy smell, it's gross," said Shouri, in a Rebecca-like manner.
Seeing à deux from the outside was kind of weird, but Pacifica knew what it was like; the intensity of both her and Shouri's senses at once disoriented her initially. Either way, she knew the two of them would be stubborn about it, so they found themselves a seat at the little eatery, despite the smell.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Thankfully, the distraction came from a snake Natural who approached the table, dressed in casual wear. They couldn't blame her given the state of the town. "Buongiorno, scusate il disordine," apologized the waitress as she handed out menus.
"Uhhh…" Pacifica stared at the foreign words plastered through the entire thing.
"Right, Cunei's Grace doesn't work on written word, only spoken," said Shouri and Rebecca. They looked to the waitress. "Può leggere ad alta voce?" the pair asked.
The snake was taken aback by not only the Maestro addressing her, but the perfect harmony between the man and his fox girl.
"S-si…" the snake waitress picked up one of the menus and began to read it out for the patrons.
Eventually, they settled on the rice and meatballs with corn. There was also a local bread, which was presented like flat disks, as well as some dumplings.
Overall, it was a fine meal and the trio set off, now full.
"Pretty good," Pacifica let out a satisfied breath as they meandered down the streets. "Where to next?" She asked the still bonded pair.
"Hospital. You taught me some first aid, remember?" Rebecca and Shouri replied.
"Fair," Pacifica said.
The hospital wasn't too hard to find. It was the most modern building in the area. Even Naturals took healthcare seriously and made sure their population was well cared for from a medical perspective.
They entered the lobby, as if crossing the threshold to another world. The contrast was stark; it was hard to tell they were even in the same town. The entrance was spotless. They must have made sure if nothing else, the hospital was well fortified from the flood waters so it could continue operation in the midst of a crisis.
What wasn't on their side was staffing. Even not being able read their expressions as well as fellow humans, it was clear the nurses and doctors ran on fumes.
It didn't take long for the anomalies to make their appearance. Deandre ran by with Walter hot on her tail, both pushing carts of dirty clothes down to the laundry room. They were so preoccupied, they failed to notice their fellow humans at the lobby's entrance.
"That bad, huh?" Rebecca and Shouri muttered. "Let's go see how we can help."
Turned out, there was a hell of a lot that needed to be done outside of first aid.
Pacifica helped keep patients calm while Shouri and Rebecca stuck together and did odd-jobs around the hospital.
At least the Naturals who ran the place realized a Maestro on their own might make them uncomfortable. Walter was basically Dee's shadow, likewise Rebecca was stuck to Shouri like glue. Somehow, the four ended up in the kitchen together.
"Oh? You know how to cook?" asked Dee.
"I dabble really," Shouri and Rebecca said in unison.
"You're really stuck together, huh? You need help separating?" Walter questioned.
"No, we're staying like this on purpose. Need the practice," they replied as they both flipped pans of rice in perfect unison.
"It's kinda weird seeing them perfectly in sync like that," Dee commented as she scrubbed a particularly stubborn dish. "You said it was an etude thing?" she asked her Resonator.
"Yes, à deux, or the heroes' bond, is a state in etude nearing Perfect Tempo, where the bond between Maestro and Resonator reaches a point where their very life functions are perfectly aligned," Walter told his Maestro, as he stirred the vegetables.
"Oh, that's kinda cool," and she went back to washing dishes.
Shouri and Rebecca shot the tortoise a suspicious gaze. "You're quite well-informed," they noted.
"I told you last night, just a consequence of a long life," Walter chuckled. "Lost track of time, really," he added.
It's like he knew what we were gonna ask next, Shouri and Rebecca mused to themselves. They figured there was the possibility their emotions were much louder while in their bonded state. Something to practice, especially if they planned to use à deux in public. The Naturals hadn't noticed, but it was more likely they waved it off as a Maestro thing.
"Okay! Let's plate this stuff! We got hungry mouths to feed!" Dee exclaimed.
"Too true, are you two done?" asked Walter of the à deux pair.
For now, they could afford to be sloppy; Walter didn't seem like a blabber mouth, and Deandre didn't make that big of a fuss.
Looking for enemies every time they looked over their shoulders wasn't the key to a long life, so they relaxed and continued with the hospital's meal prep.
Three carts were loaded up with plates full of steaming rice and veggies and carted around the hospital.
Rebecca and Shouri pegged Deandre as an emotion stave, with the way she cheerily served food to the various Naturals. It brought smiles to the faces of the injured and the caretakers alike.
In that moment, the boundaries between Maestro, Resonator, and Natural slipped. People helped one another out. The animosity of their ancestors was forgotten and it felt like true peace.
It was only this tiny crumb of the wider world, but being able to experience this moment made even the usually reserved Shouri smile brightly, and that was no consequence of à deux.