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

Yeah, she fell for this boy with stupid ease.

Linh wondered how long Holly survived before she was afflicted with the curse. To the water element's credit, waking up in his arms and feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest was quite intimate. Plus, the serene smile he wore holding both herself and Holly--he was at peace--and Linh wanted nothing more than to protect that.

Holly also radiated tranquility. The little zalavan held Linh from behind, so despite the massive bed they shared, there was no danger of any of them falling off of it. Linh could sense her presence brought them both a bit more security.

That stung.

She wasn't strong. She told them that.

Yet, for some reason, they had the utmost faith in her capabilities.

Why?

What did they know that she didn't?

Even tutelage at the best Resonator-focused school in the entire world couldn't make anything of her, but…

Shouri didn't care about that.

There was hope in Linh's heart that Shouri and Holly would figure out what she could be.

"A hunt?"

Her heart practically stopped, as fear steeped her.

Linh had been given a clean bill of health today, and Shouri decided they were going to hunt Scherzando. When he announced that plan for the evening, Linh freaked out, to put it lightly.

Holly sensed something was amiss. She laid a hand on the mermaid's shoulder. The water element jumped and squealed.

Shouri stood in shock as he watched his new Resonator hold herself and tremble with true fear. No, fear wasn't the right word.

Terror.

This poor girl was terrified of the idea of going on a Scherzando hunt. She only snapped out of her horror by Shouri's fingers, quite literally snapping her out of it.

"Let's go to the store," he said.

Linh took a sharp breath. "Wh-why?" she managed to get out.

"Equipment run--Holly needs some new seeds, and you need a water bottle."

"H-huh?"

It was kind of obvious when Linh put some thought into it. Carrying a water bottle with her would enable her to switch "forms" on the fly. So if they really needed her water magic, they weren't entirely lost or have to rely on Holly to divert her attention to casting a water spell on her.

Speaking of the zalavan, in their short time together, Linh really had come to admire the plant girl. Holly was what Linh thought a strong Resonator should be. It felt like she was the main character of her own little story with such versatility under her belt. It was a level of adaptability null elements wished they could achieve.

"I'd like to buy all of this, but we really should consider our expenses if we want to keep traveling," said Holly.

"Right. We should stock up on earth magic. You cover Linh, Linh covers you," Shouri proposed.

"Yeah. That sounds good. I can also start growing some earth plants in my hair so I can protect her in a pinch," Holly suggested.

"What are you thinking?"

Holly hummed in thought. "Tectonic school is the minor school, but has much larger scales of spells to work with. Stone has more direct damaging spells. I think ultimately I should do tectonic," she reasoned out.

Linh simply stared. Holly wasn't just strong, she was extremely smart. The yellow glow in the plant's eyes told all. She wore that knowledge stave with absolute pride.

The zalavan grimaced. "Uhg, root vegetables are so ugly though."

"Sorry," Linh mumbled.

Holly hummed in thought. "There… is another option. Sho, there's a port here, right?" she asked their Maestro.

"Yeah, why?"

The zalavan grabbed some potato and blackberry seeds. "Let's go get Linh a bottle. I have an idea."

Altogether, their expenditures were less than twenty notes. The seeds were nothing, and the water bottle just needed a quick to release cap so Linh could access her water with ease in the heat of battle.

"Where are we going, Holls?" asked Shouri as the zalavan led the way.

"Down to the port. I want to see if there's people selling imported fruits."

Linh wasn't sure what was going on, and based on Shouri's expression, neither did he.

They both trusted Holly knew what she was doing and let the nature element lead the way.

Just outside the harbor there were some stands set up. Many vendors sold various goods imported from other parts of the world from trinkets and novelties, to home goods on the cheap. Holly scanned the various products on offer and found one that piqued her interest.

The trio approached a fruit stand, and Holly browsed its wares.

"These are rare fruits from the Sornio Islands! You won't find ones like this anywhere in the world!" boasted the merchant.

Holly immediately grabbed a bunch of each kind of fruit she saw, until she carried seven varieties.

"Woah, are you sure you need that much?" Shouri questioned warily.

The zalavan looked back to him and didn't say a word, but the look in her eyes told all.

Yes, yes she did need that much. She didn't speak for a reason, so they spent the rest of their money on the various fruits Holly picked out.

Linh sensed Shouri was extremely nervous about this purchase--a couple hundred notes on an assortment of fruits seemed nebulous to him. However, he also trusted her. He knew she would explain herself when they were back in their room, so he simply enabled her.

Linh wore a small smile. That level of trust felt good. She sensed if she did something similar, Shouri would back her the same way. It was nice.

"These are Heroica berries!" Holly exclaimed, finally answering the question of what she bought.

Unfortunately, neither of her fellow party members had any idea what she was going on about, so they simply stared, dumbfounded.

The zalavan took a breath, before launching into her explanation. "Okay, so you know how I can draw from one school of magic per plant, right?"

Shouri nodded, and Linh trusted that, nodding alongside him.

"Heroica berries are the exception--they can cast from an entire element. So, like, the lychee can cast fire spells, longan water spells, pitomba for lightning, ackee for nature, rambutan for solar, guaraná for lunar, and alupag for earth." Holly held up each berry in turn as she explained.

"If I plant the seeds into my hair, I'll be able to cast entire elements of magic as long as I use Shouri's rhythm and not the guest plant," she added.

The realization hit the uninitiated like a wave.

"Oh!" Shouri and Linh exclaimed.

"I'll be able to cast earth magic through you so that we really have Linh covered in case of any lightning elements," Shouri voiced his understanding of Holly's plan.

"Bingo!" Holly pointed to her Maestro.

Linh wore a small smile, lowering her head. Holly really was simply amazing, and she was doing this all for her.

With their plan in mind, Holly slept so she could grow the alupag plants for tonight. In the meantime, Linh and Shouri stripped the rest of the purchased berries down to their seeds so Holly could add them to her collection.

When that was done, they had nothing but time to kill. Holly had to sleep until nine at night so she could fully grow the alupag plants and gain access to earth magic.

"Let's go swimming," Shouri suggested.

The sudden idea put the mermaid on edge. "Wh-why?" asked the mermaid.

Shouri averted his gaze, a sheepish smile crossing his lips. "I just--uh want to see you swim is all," he admitted.

This boy was too pure for her and Linh felt her heart seize. She couldn't say no to that!

So that's how they ended up at the MA Office's pool.

"I can't believe you had a bathing suit under your clothes," Linh admitted.

"After I got you I decided I needed to be ready," Shouri snarked with a smirk.

"We've only been together for a day!" Linh exclaimed.

Not that she truly minded the thought. She was a water element, she did love swimming. She was glad her Maestro was ready to be with her, no matter what. Her face reddened at the thought.

"I want to stay close to you," the mermaid spoke quietly.

"Me too."

Even though she spoke her request for more heartfelt reasons, Shouri's agreement came from a distinct distrust of the other pool goers.

"Can I practice carrying you?" asked Linh.

"H-huh?"

Shouri never imagined he'd ever have a water element Resonator. Yet, here he was, standing side-by-side with one of the most sought after species of the element. He knew as soon as she hit the water, they'd be accosted by the other swimmers.

"We can practice running away," Shouri joked.

"I won't have legs," Linh pointed out.

"But you will have water magic," he countered.

He wasn't wrong there, but she wasn't sure how that'd be of use.

Just standing at the edge of the pool was only attracting more attention, so the two made their leap of faith.

Shouri, growing up in a coastal town, was a strong swimmer. He had nothing on a full mermaid however.

Linh easily scooped him up from the bottom of the pool and surfaced in seconds.

"Hold onto my shoulders," Linh told him as she turned her back to him. While a couple of people had spotted the revelation of the mermaid, the duo hadn't gotten much attention… yet.

It was only when Linh blasted off did everyone become aware of the mermaid and her Maestro. Linh raced at her top speed, ferrying Shouri around the pool like a small jet-ski. Rather than mobbing the duo, the rest of the pool goers parted ways and got out of the pool to watch the mermaid's performance.

Linh had never been able to truly practice ferrying her Maestro. The longer she did it, the more she felt his rhythm bleed into her. Her heart felt light as she jumped, dove, and blitzed around the small pool. Her fears melted away in the water. All she needed was him.

She could be something more--and Shouri would ensure that.

Holly awoke when the door to the room opened.

The little zalavan sat up, blearily rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She winced as Shouri flicked the lights to the room on.

"Oh, sorry," he said.

"What did you two do?" asked Holly.

Shouri and Linh both appeared to be damp (except Linh's legs).

"We went swimming," said Linh, with a giggle.

Holly blinked and shook her head. The mermaid's attitude had completely changed in the span of eight hours. She wore a small smile and occasionally glanced at Shouri, which only deepened her smile further.

"I take it you had fun?" questioned the plant.

"Tons!" Linh beamed.

While Holly expected she'd feel a little jealous, knowing what Linh was like when they found her and now; she couldn't be upset. Besides, Shouri was their Maestro, and she knew he'd never pick one of them over the other. A thought that was confirmed when he sat next to her on the bed. He reached out and stroked the back of her head.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Y-yes!" Holly squeaked, caught off guard.

"Good." His eyes traced the new vegetation atop her head. The alupag fruits were interesting, to say the least. They were small yellow orbs with brown bumps all over them. Just like her normal berries, Holly grew four of these little heroic fruits atop her head--two on each side.

He reached over and scooped up her tuner from the nightstand.

"Woah, that's a lot," Shouri gasped as he scanned the list of spells now available to his loyal little ilex.

"Glad that worked. Now I can cover Linh's lightning weakness." Holly grinned at the success of her experiment.

"You… never tried this before," Linh pointed out.

Holly jumped, her face warming with embarrassment. "N-no, I've never grown another plant in my hair," she admitted quietly.

The zalavan's gaze retreated to anywhere but her two companions. "I just--I didn't want to worry my mom, so I never did it. I practiced magic behind her back and mastered pretty much every spell. I love magic, I just…" she trailed off, holding herself.

Shouri leaned over and drew the conflicted plant into a tight hug. "You don't have to say," he whispered.

"Thank you," murmured Holly. She mouthed something else, but Shouri didn't catch it.

Linh did, however, and whipped her head away, her face red. She knew she had felt Holly's fondness for Shouri--but she didn't think it went that far.

This wasn't Linh's first time at a hunt.

Zacara Academy held hunts nightly. The students took their cherished Resonators out into the wilds of the island to deal with the rampant beasts that plagued the lands. The difference here was Zacara Academy students were limited to one Resonator each while they attended the school, where hunters out in the wider world could have up to three Resonators in their party at a time (more if they were willing to put up with that kind of commitment.)

She tried to calm herself. Shouri and Holly spent a ton of money for her. Holly even wasted her entire day sleeping so she could grow the plants needed to protect her.

After all that effort, Linh couldn't let it go to waste. Even if she did want to cry and go hide in the bathroom.

Holly kept her hood up while they waited in line. Linh was thankful she didn't have to hide any part of her anatomy. The mermaid did get appraising gazes from people who came from the same MA Office they were staying in. She could sense she was recognized. They did play in the pool for most of the afternoon.

In fact, she was surprised Shouri wanted to hunt, given how long they were out for.

"Someone's gonna notice," Holly whispered to their Maestro.

Linh, oddly curious, listened closely to the hushed conversation between the pair.

"Right, I guess it would be weird if you suddenly used nature magic alongside earth spells," Shouri whispered back.

"Exactly. Just use earth spells tonight, and I'll use other spells if it's a real emergency," said Holly.

That did make sense to the mermaid, they didn't want to attract any more attention to themselves than necessary. So naturally, they'd have to stick to one element of magic. It'd be kind of weird if they started flinging around high level spells of other elements.

Then again, they could feign her being a null element if they stuck to basic spells. Linh didn't want to intrude, so she kept that idea to herself.

A difference between the public hunts and Zacara Academy's was the queue. Linh remembered she and her Maestro would just take a bus into the wilds with the other students and do their thing. There was never this line.

There were probably a couple dozen parties in line ahead of them, and it was kind of slow going. It was always interesting to see other species of Resonator different Maestros used. Another thing she remembered, were duelists tended to shy away from some species based on certain factors. Groundhogs were one she remembered duelists didn't like to use--their trait that changes their element based on the weather conditions could be utilized against them.

"Next."

Shouri approached the registrar and presented their two tuners. The worker scanned the two devices and paused, their head snapping up to look at the two Resonators behind the unassuming Maestro.

Holly raised a finger to her lips knowingly.

"R-right, do you want to handle the flank?" The registrar appraised the two Resonators. One hiding underneath a hood, and another who could be easily mistaken for a Maestro if not for for her navy blue hair. Then again, there was nothing stopping a Maestro from dying their hair such a color--some even did for solidarity with their Resonators or something.

The only thing that convinced the registrar that Linh wasn't one of those Maestros was the tuner. A forgery wouldn't have scanned in so cleanly.

"Girls, do you think we can handle it?" Shouri asked.

"Yes."
"No."

Holly and Linh looked to one another. The plant had confidence, the mermaid did not. Shouri shifted his gaze between the two. With a soft sigh, he turned back to the registrar.

"We'll do the flank."

"Wh-why?" asked Linh, as she stuck close to Shouri, her eyes darting all around the dark woods with anxiety.

"We're more free like this," answered Holly as they proceeded deeper into the forest. "No one to gawk at us, especially if you need to transform," she added, pushing her hood off her head.

"Exactly. Holly can freely use her seeds too," Shouri pointed to the zalavan.

She reached into her waist pouch and retrieved a single seed from it. "Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto," called the plant.

From her fingertips a small ball of fire formed and hovered in the middle of their group.

"When did you get that?" Shouri asked with a knowing smirk.

"Saved it from breakfast. Noticed they were using bell peppers and managed to find a valid one," Holly grinned back.

Shouri rolled his eyes, but playfully tousled his resourceful Resonator's hair.

It was one thing reading about zalavan's powers. It was another thing seeing them first hand. Watching a nature element cast a fire spell like it was nothing--without a Maestro command, no less--made poor Linh feel all that more inadequate.

"Linh, Ricerca Vitale, Lento Staccato."

Shouri's call made Linh jump. It was only the second time he cast a spell through her, but it was better the second go around than the first. Her previous Maestro never elicited such an intense sensation. It was just rhythm, why did it feel so good?

"Wh-what do you want me to do with this?" she asked.

"I read Ricerca Vitale can pick up Scherzando if you catch them in your vision. Even if you miss them, the spell won't," Shouri explained. "Or so I've read."

Holly patted the other Resonator's back. "We're counting on you!"

Linh nodded and focused. She had to keep a watch out and let them know when she spotted something. The spell would alert her, just as long as it entered her field of sight.

It didn't take long, either.

"Ahead!" Linh called, pointing out a Scherzando that approached from the air.

"Sciame di Gioielli, Piano!" Shouri commanded.

Holly created a bundle of gemstones around her hand, aiming, and firing them off in a single motion. The ease at which she took down the beast only served to highlight how incredible Holly was in Linh's eyes. Shouri, too, coolly called the spell like it was second nature to him. Linh had seen many upstart Maestros who thought they were owed the world panic during their first Scherzando hunt.

There was hope in Linh's heart that her life was beginning for real now that she was with Holly and Shouri.

Admittedly… she wondered what would have happened if that night took a different turn. What would have happened between her and Cameron?

Maybe she would never truly know, and that was for the best.