Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

"This him?" asked Shouri. He flashed a picture of a certain man to the fairy.

Zephyr responded by fearfully ducking into Vince's jacket and trembled. The Maestro gently held his hands over the shaking Resonator, brows turned up with worry.

The group had returned to the van for the time being, mainly to put some distance between themselves and the menacing branding that elicited the extreme response from the group's fairy.

"I'll take that as a yes," Shouri frowned, flipping his tuner back around to study the article below the image.

"René Noel" was the name at the top of the page as well as a picture of a well-dressed man with a gentle smile.

"He's evil," Zephyr whimpered from her hiding spot.

Taika looked to Pacifica who nodded. The otter furrowed her brows as her arms were folded across her chest. Similarly, Rebecca looked at her own tuner, just as troubled as her friends.

"Dude apparently is really into Resonators," Rebecca noted. "All this stuff talks about him housing Resonators as well as spending a ton on buying them off of Maestros," she summarized. "Urgh." The vixen shook her head and put her tuner back on Shouri's hip.

"Hrm…" Shouri scoured the internet for more information about the mysterious head of The René Group. The longer he searched, the more his expression soured.

"It's too clean…" he mumbled.
"Huh?" everyone turned to the Maestro.

"René Noel is too clean. The man is basically a sage with how perfect he is," Shouri mumbled.

"I am confusion." Miro stroked his maw thoughtfully. "I thought you said the sages were not liked, no?" asked the Natural.

"They're not, but even so they're the closest to god, so they're held to the standards of being perfect – we mortals just don't understand their machinations," Shouri explained. "Or so the stories say," he added as an annoyed grumble.

After a flip through his dictionary, Miro grumbled. "I see," was all the Natural had to offer on the subject.

"So, what are we gonna do, Sho?" asked Pacifica, her gaze rested on the lump of freaked out fairy in Vince's jacket.

"Well, we're not gonna make her come with, that's for sure," started Shouri. He thumbed up a text to Emily.

Zephyr didn't say anything, remaining hidden.

Mila snorted indignantly, seeing how her Maestro and fellow Resonator were clammed up. "We can stay here. I think you should go see the show," said the cat.

"Why's that?" questioned Rebecca.
"Well if this guy's actually a problem, you should see if you can get an eye on him," Mila suggested.
"Ah, I get it," Pacifica nodded, she looked to Shouri. "It's like when we first met Ilea Vim how we noticed there was something wrong with him," she clarified.

"You noticed something wrong with him," Shouri corrected.
"Well, now we're all looking so I hope I'm not alone in that effort," Pacifica chuckled.

Though she wore a smile, Shouri sensed it in their tempo – what if René Noel was one of Ilea's backers?

Elijah did tell him at one point the money trail was obfuscated too much for even the Klein Foundation's people to figure out where it was coming from. The Riterran officials had also no luck tracking down any conspirators – they said as much when they were arrested the night Ilea Vim was finally brought down.

René certainly did look like the type of person to have a lot of money. But…

"There's no motive…" Shouri breathed out.
"Huh?" Once more, all eyes turned to the lead Maestro of the group.
"Ilea didn't really have a motive for what he did. He kinda just did it for the fuck of it from what I understand," Shouri grunted, chewing over those thoughts while he tapped his forehead with his knuckles.

Finally, he looked to his waiting group. "We'll just figure it out on the fly like before," he decided.

"Hopefully we don't get arrested again," Taika sighed.
"No no, this time we'll be more responsible. Just hope René isn't planning to unleash super Feroce or something," said Shouri, shuddering at the thought.

The first step in their master plan was to gather intel.

Which started at the Resonator Festa being hosted by The René Group if all their branding was to be believed.

Zephyr refused to even entertain the thought of even smelling the building, much less going near it. For that, Vince and his duo along with Miro were sent off into the city to play around or whatever, while Shouri and his trio were to meet with Emily and hers. They met up outside the stadium – the lines had dwindled down to nothing as the show was to start in the next ten or so minutes.

"There you are!" Emily pouted at the guildmaster as he approached.
"I told you we had a situation!" Shouri shouted back.
"Yeah, and you refused to elaborate," she countered.
"Fair, let me get you back up to speed."

Shouri laid out his thoughts, the situation with Zephyr, and their current course of action.

"Hmmm," Emily hummed. She looked back at the festive building, the cheers of the crowd reverberating from within. The smiles and joy shared by Maestros and Resonators alike, it was almost like she was back home on Luna. And yet-

"It stinks," Albarich pointed out. "Seems too clean for a terran get together," he scoffed.
"I can't really judge it; didn't even know these things existed until last week," Ritika said with a shrug.

Soot tapped his nose with outstretched index and middle fingers and brought them down to meet the index and middle fingers of his opposite hand. His face scrunched up and he made a C with one hand and swiped it down.

"Fun, but odd," Rebecca translated for the golem (Emily muttered a small thank you for the quick read).

"Let's go watch it. Maybe Mr. Noel will make an appearance," said Pacifica trying to usher her friends into the stadium.

"Not as many people as I thought," Shouri noted as they shuffled their way into their seats. There were probably thousands of seats surrounding the center stage from all angles, yet maybe half of them were filled.

Even so, the audience's excitement was palpable. Discounting the rhythm that hung thick in the air, it felt like their entire bodies vibrated from the force of noise. The loud music, the shouts of the crowd, it was a cacophony of anticipation.

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"Wow, this is… a lot," Shouri mumbled, knowing full well he would not be heard over the hubbub.
"I don't think the crowds in Naiza were this hyped up!" Rebecca shouted.
"Right?! It's crazy!" Emily yelled.
"Way to add to the noise guys," Shouri grumbled, as he refused to contribute to the noise pollution.

They soon found their spots, where Colette and Kaira were already seated.

"Oh hey!" Colette waved to the six that approached.

There was a quick tussle in the row with Shouri losing and being forced to sit next to Colette (he took Taika as his fellow inmate).

In reality, he did want to question their rhythm expert on a few things.

"Aren't you excited Shouri?" Colette asked her seatmate.
"I can't say I'm not – considering we watched one of the performers practice all week from our doorstep," Shouri replied.

Before their conversation could go anywhere else the lights around the arena began to dim as the focus of illumination converged on the center stage where a single man stood holding a microphone and the crowd's hushed attention.

"Welcome one and all to today's Resonator Festa! Talent from all over the world has gathered here in the lovely city of Dalliva to put on a show for you! If this is your first Festa allow me to explain what is about to happen. In just a few short moments we will have the first round known as the Anthem where our talented divas will dazzle you with stunning displays of magic and athletic skill! This will determine our top divas for the Rondo – the head-to-head performance of today's festivities!"

"Now let us give a hand our contestants today!" he announced.

The master of ceremonies ran off the stage, giving the floor to: "Entry number one!"

Shouri and the others were transfixed by the performances on display. Each Maestro was allowed two Resonators on stage, but what they did with them varied wildly. Spells wove with each other to create shimmering displays of rhythm that sparkled in the air. Fire burst, water flowed, earth towered, lightning crackled, and nature itself blossomed in the various performances that graced the stage. The most audacious performance saw a water element that danced alongside her partner's electricity – even the slightest misstep would have ruined the performance.

But the one part of the show that got PTRS' undivided attention was-

"And last, but not least – Entry number sixteen: Casey Rigewei and her Resonators John and Marie!"

The familiar squirrel and deer made their way onto the stage, and Casey's command began the performance.

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!"

Their demonstration started with one flame squirrel, but at that moment, John grabbed his partner's hand.

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!"

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!"

There was a tense moment of silence across the row of guild members as they waited for what was to come. A sigh of relief fell across the whole group as the rest of the audience gasped in astonishment, breaking their transfixed silence as two squirrels made of bubbles graced the stage alongside their fiery counterpart.

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!
"

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!
"

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!
"

"Woah, she got it!" Rebecca gasped in astonishment.

And she wasn't the only one shocked by this turn of events. The rest of the spectators were equally amazed by the three ice squirrels that appeared before the pair to double the number of summons who stood with their summoners.

"Let's show them our charm guys!" Casey shouted. "Tromba d'acqua, Forte Staccato! Roccia Fusa, Rubato!"

John created a water spout that stretched high into the air, while Marie got to work. She fired balls of lava that hit the base of the vortex turning into little platforms, which Marie hopped on, she was pulled up, being carried on her little ledge while avoiding the water. As she did so she fired lava balls down at the base creating successive scaffoldings for the summons to be carried up on, each one jumping onto it as their turn came. Up and up Marie and the six rhythm beasts rode until they reached the top. At the apex of the cyclone, it burst, throwing off its rider as they reached the top.

First Marie, who jumped as her platform vanished. The audience gasped as she fell, but she trusted her partner, who caught the falling girl with no issue. Then each of the summons took their turns, jumping and landing on Marie, piling on their summoner who John kept a firm grip on.

Once all seven were safely in John's arms the Tromba d'acqua burst, raining down on the pair and their six rhythm beasts, the slabs of obsidian accenting them in a circle in the center of the stage.

The two panted hard, but kept their smiles wide and bright, Marie holding out a hand outstretched to the audience.

It was silent, even so the two performers never broke their bright grins. And finally – the crowd went ballistic. None of the other performances, as impressive as they were garnered such a reaction.

Surely with all the eyes and cameras on them in this moment, they'd be the pioneers of this technique.