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

Zephyr's eyes sparkled as she took in the city streets from her vantage point in Vince's jacket. She didn't feel comfortable straying far from her Maestro – not with the possibility of that man being so close.

What did bring her solace was that Shouri took her seriously. Her trepidation before lay in not being believed. But Shouri, Vince, and all the other Resonators believed her. A small smile rose on her lips.

Dark thoughts wouldn't take away her peaceful day with her beloved! For that she pushed her back into his chest and let out a content sigh, as she took in the sights. The world was vast (even more so for someone of her petite stature) with so many amazing things in it.

Their Natural companion agreed, as he voiced his amazement. "Che ammazza! The buildings are so big!" exclaimed Miro.

There was one singular tall building in Dalliva (at least compared to bigger cities like Canolapra or New Draxgow).

It bore… a familiar name.

"Tomoshibi Energy Center"

"H-huh…?" Vince and Mila stared at the impossibly tall building. It was the defining feature of the Dallivan skyline, and stood above the rest of the city like its lord. And it bore the family name of their very guildmaster.

"What?" Vince breathed out.
"Why?" Mila shook her head.

"What? What is it?" Zephyr asked, poking her head out to take in the shock of her friends.
"Shouri's last name is Tomoshibi," said Vince.
"This is definitely his pop's company. It's like one of the branch offices I think? I remember him tellin' me about it years ago," Mila added. "I just didn't connect the dots until right now," said the cat, quieter.

Miro hummed in thought. "What is in this building?" he asked.

"Not sure. Probably an office building, but its way too big for that," Vince frowned.
"I know Shouri ain't exactly on the best terms with his pops," Mila chimed in. "Maybe we should get some intel," she suggested. The mischievous grin only informed Vince of possible shenanigans from his cat.

"Let's try not to get yelled at by Shouri again," Vince weakly protested.
"No promises are made!" Mila declared, grabbing her Maestro's hand and rushing into the belly of the beast.

Zephyr had a lot to consider as the gentle heating of the building hit her from the front. Shouri didn't get along with his family? He never really talked about them, so that tracked.

"There's no one around if you want to come out Zephyr," Vince urged the fairy.

After considering that prospect, the little luna moth left the safety of her Maestro and fluttered out. She spun around in the air, her neck craned skyward as she took in the corporate resplendence. The part of the building they had entered was a large rotunda, probably four to five floors tall, made entirely of glass. The sunlight that beamed in helped warm the building – in fact the hum of the ventilation systems was completely absent.

"Maestros are amazing, those back home would not believe such a building is existing," Miro gasped, as he too spun around in awe. Glass sculptures hung from the ceiling like massive pine cones in both form and function, but they shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight that filtered in from all sides.

"Come on, let's see how far we can get before they kick us out," Mila suggested, pointing toward the eastern hallway, which led to the main tower.

The main lobby was just as empty as the rotunda, though they finally noted the floor being patterned almost like an art piece. One of the staffed Resonators worked a floor buffer on the opposite end of the lobby.

"Boundless…" Miro muttered. The others looked to the Natural in their company who flipped through his little dictionary.

"Illimitato, sconfinato, infinito… What is this meaning?" he puzzled.

"It's a restaurant," Vince revealed, having answered the question with a search on a tuner.
"A restaurant named 'Boundless'?" Zephyr questioned, hovering next to Miro as they stared at the sign.
"Sounds fancy," Mila commented. "We should have lunch there." She grinned, elbowing Vince.
"Oh, heck no! This is one of those fancy fancy places! They'd probably call security on us!" the Maestro protested.

"Not us, but they'd certainly let PTRS in," Mila chuckled with malintent.
"Mila…" Vince narrowed his eyes, pouting at the cat.
"C'mon beansprout!" Mila drew close and cupped a hand around his ear. "We're doing reconnaissance remember? We gotta report something juicy to Shouri, right?"

Vince groaned in protest, peeking at Miro and Zephyr who had turned to see what the commotion was all about. Zephyr caught what Mila was putting down and folded her hands, turning up the charm as she widened her eyes and pursed her lips out pleading for his approval.

Miro didn't know what was happening but even so, his curious gaze and tail wagging certainly added to the effect Mila and Zephyr were trying to inflict on the poor defenseless Maestro.

The boy caved. "Fine… we'll go look," admitted the defeated Vince.

"Yes!" Mila and Zephyr cheered, the fairy rushing over to high-five her partner in crime. Miro too was pleased but blissfully unaware of the skillful manipulation by the two maidens of the group.

Getting to Boundless proved to be easier than Vince had initially thought. There were plenty of signs leading the way. In fact, it seemed like the only business with such signage. The quartet was directed to a pair of elevators. Upon pressing the call button, the left cabin opened for their usage.

Miro's curiosity was in full force as the little Natural spun around as he took in the elevator cab they entered. Like the rest of the building, it showed a nauseating amount of wealth. Gold trimming decorated the entire thing, the walls made of mahogany and the floor was tiled in well-polished marble and granite.

"Huh…?" Vince blinked.
"What?" Mila too was confused.
"What is it?" Zephyr fluttered over and landed on Vince's shoulder. "Oh!"

Three buttons were presented to them: 1, 49, 50. The other forty-seven buttons that should have been there were totally missing.

"This must be a public elevator. Maybe there's like one for the businesses?" Vince suggested.
"Where is the restaurant?" Mila asked the more pressing question.
"Top two floors, so forty-nine and fifty," said the Maestro as he hit the 49 button.

The cabin lurched and their ascent began at full force. Miro let out a groan. "Oough…" the Natural swayed and ended up grabbing Mila's side for balance.

"What's with you?" Mila asked, though helping the fox boy steady himself.
"Head spins…"

"This thing is going really fast," Zephyr noted. "Earth elements don't have a good time with sudden acceleration like this."

"I get what he's feeling, it does feel weird," Vince added.

Thankfully because of how fast the elevator raced to its destination floor, they only spent two minutes going up.

The cabin stopped and the door opened to allow the guests their exit. Stepping onto the floor they saw a long hallway with the Dalliva skyline in the distance. Surprising no one, the decoration of the restaurant was only for the best. There wasn't a sign of wear or tear on any of the tables, the floor, the walls. It all looked brand new, as if the place had opened only yesterday.

"Oooh, we're part of the upper crust now," Zephyr sang, remaining on her Maestro's shoulder while she took in the decor.

Before they were allowed to run amok, they were accosted by one of the wait staff – a well-dressed older man; notably not a Resonator like they had expected.

"Do you have a reservation?" he asked immediately.

"Uh… no we uh just came up here hoping there would be an open table," admitted Vince sheepishly.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Mila looked around and noted the distinct lack of other guests in the large space. "Seems like you could use the business," she commented.

The waiter snorted indignantly at the cat's remark, and swapped the menus he held with a different set. "This way, please."

"Don't think he appreciated that comment," Zephyr whispered into her Maestro's ear, who nodded slowly.

They had a lovely view of the city from their table – a small table right by one of the full-length windows. They were left alone with their menus while the waiter went to fetch their silverware.

"The fuck?" Mila cursed.
"What's wrong?" asked Vince.
"No tailhole. Didn't even know they made chairs without them," she said, quieter.

Sure enough, none of the seats in the building had accommodations of any kind for the extra appendages Resonators and Naturals had.

"Should we leave?" Vince asked, brows turned up with concern.
"Oh hell no. If they don't want Resonators here, I'm gonna be as inconvenient as possible," Mila smiled with sinister intention.
"Mils no," Vince tried to calm his Resonator.
"Oh no no no, beansprout. Watch and learn. You're about to see that the customer is always right." The flash of the cat's pearly whites only enhanced the wickedness brewing.

Vince looked to Zephyr who rubbed her hands and similarly displayed her malicious intent through her toothy grin.

Miro thankfully was not involved, paws on the window, blissfully unaware of the shenanigans unfolding behind him.

"Stay innocent," Vince pleaded quietly to the little Natural.

Their server returned with four glasses of water and set them on the table along with the bundled silverware and towels.

"Excuse me, sir," Zephyr spoke up,

The man shot a look at the tiny guest. His haughty gaze was met by the the glare of a supercilious fairy.

"I would like to request a seat at the north of the establishment," she spoke in such a dignified manner that Vince had a hard time believing it was his usual bratty Resonator.

"I beg your pardon?" the waiter asked.
"Ah, my apologies, I figured such a high-class establishment would be aware of how to properly serve fairies." She shot an indignant look at the glass. "Clearly my appraisal of this diner was incorrect," Zephyr snorted. "Everyone knows when serving a fairy that their seats must face the north winds. Were you raised in a barn?" she asked, her expression fouling as she adjusted her glasses.

"Many apologies, signore," Mila said to Miro. "After we came to show you the best Riterra had to offer we'd be treated so poorly…" the cat shook her head.

"It is being okay. I will just to be informing the Natural council of this transgression. What is the name of this eatery?" Apparently, Miro wasn't as innocent as Vince had thought.

"Boundless, signore. I'm so terribly sorry," Mila apologized. She shot an angry glare at the waiter, jerking with her head as if to say "make this right or else!"

If the waiter wasn't already having a garbage day, returning to this mess was the cherry on top. "My apologies, one moment while I fetch our maître d'."

As soon as he disappeared around the corner, the three actors dropped their pompous disguises. "Way to go!" Mila whispered, offering a fist bump to the fairy and natural, who returned the gesture in kind. Vince could only be horrified. Either they were about to get kicked out or arrested, whatever happened first.

A different man came out, dressed even finer than the waiter before.

"What appears to be the problem?" he asked. Unlike the previous member of the wait staff, he held back any patronization of his guests (for now.)

Immediatly the trio went on the attack again.

"Ah, we're on tour of Lybertera and we heard great things about this-" Mila paused, an appraising gaze washed over the sights for a moment, "-restaurant; and I can't say our guests are impressed."

"Indeed. What kind of two-star operation is this? I was quite impressed by the presentation but it is quite a shame that the service can't hold a candle to it. A mere performative work I see," Zephyr sneered.

"I am in concurring. The Natural council will not be hearing of this place from me," Miro nodded in agreement.

The maître d' grew paler the more the three spoke. He looked to Vince for any help in the matter. The Maestro sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I heard such great things about this place too. We can go elsewhere. I'm sure Dalliva has more accommodating locales."

"Actually! It appears you were seated in the wrong part of the restaurant – this way please!"

They were led up a flight of stairs to the fiftieth floor. It was as if they were brought into a crystalline palace. The tables were larger, the decorations more elaborate, and the view just as breathtaking.

Careful attention was paid to their seat – it was on the north side, and different chairs with tail holes in two of the seats. There was even a tiny glass already prepared for Zephyr.

"Ah, see how easy it is when you try?" Mila shot a strained smile at the maître d', who returned the smile in kind.

"Of course, Miss." It was clear he felt like vomiting at being forced to pay the cat even a modicum of respect.

"You may leave, we will be taking our time with the menu." Zephyr waved the maître d' off like a peasant, which he begrudgingly complied with.

Finally in comfortable chairs for their anatomy, the guests reviewed the menu.

"I fucking knew it," Mila hissed quietly.
"What?" Vince asked.
"Before our little performance they handed us a menu with different prices," she told him.
"You spotted it?" asked the Maestro.
"Mhm, made sure to take a peek before we started bitching. They were gonna charge fifteen more notes for me and Zephyr, probably Miro too," she told him.

Vince glanced at the menu, noting just the one price for adults, and one for children. Given everything that just went down made Mila's claim all the more believable. (Not that she had any reason to lie to him.)

"Ah, I didn't expect anyone else to be up here," a voice spoke up.

The four guests whipped around to find a woman at the end of their table. Behind her stood a Resonator, a tall silver wolf man wearing a suit. He stood as straight as he could muster, arms behind his back.

The woman… felt familiar somehow. Perhaps her eyes? The greens that graced her vision felt so hopelessly familiar to the four at the table, yet none could place why. She was dressed simply, wearing a white dress with a matching sun hat on her back, held by a string that tugged gently around her neck. Her long brunette tresses tied up into a bun Mila swore she recognized.

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting, come Lycus, let's leave them be," said the woman.

"Wait!" Mila stood up. Her eyes darted between the Maestro and her Resonator attendant. Upon closer inspection the white tuner belonging to the wolf man was affixed to the bodice of the woman's dress. "How did you get up here?" questioned the cat.

"They were giving us the snob treatment for just breathing," Zephyr pointed out.

The woman shrugged, smiling. "Couldn't tell you. Perhaps they recognized me," she replied. Her Resonator leaned over and whispered something into the lady's ear. She nodded, keeping her smile. "I suppose if you got up here you must be interesting people," she commented.

The implication was clear to Vince at least.

"I'm Vince," he led off.
"Mila," said the cat.
"Zephyr, the cutest of the bunch," sang the fairy.
"Mi chiamo Miro," greeted the Natural.

The warmth from the lady's smile was calming. "This is Lycus, my attendant. I'm Lila Lumidela, it's wonderful to meet you all."