BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Mmmrgph…" Pacifica woke up on the sixth day of November. After last night's events, she was mostly better. Sleeping in Shouri's arms also helped.

But damn that annoying alarm was making it really hard to want to exist. She buried her face deep in his chest hoping for it to end soon.

Thankfully Rebecca was on the case and silenced the annoyance.

Shouri stroking her hair was certainly one way to pacify her grievances regarding their rude awakening. "Come on love, we need to get up to catch our boat." His whispering about boats would have been heavenly if it didn't involve what was to come.

Sarayul was an eccentric trainer in all respects. Being thrown like a ragdoll was an experience Pacifica didn't want to repeat.

Regardless, inaction wouldn't get her any closer to mastering her ad-Lib. This was more than demonstrated by her morning shower.

"AH!"

The showerhead exploded into tiny pieces of plastic shrapnel.

"Pacifica?!" Shouri shouted from the other side of the bathroom door.

The otter stared at the beheaded shower arm which sprayed water in a forceful stream that bent away from her body and was directed right into the open drain.

"I'm… fine," she answered with her voice raised enough for him to hear her.

This was going to be a long day.

Breakfast downed; the quartet made their way to the harbor where their ferry awaited them.

"How many hours?!" Rebecca barked upon their full itinerary being revealed. "Six," Shouri repeated, knowing full well the question was rhetorical. "Uuuuugh, this sucks," groused the fire element.

It'll be worth it, Pacifica kept telling herself.

The ship was just as big as the one that ferried them across the western Trimare. Turned out that a Tuesday in November had a comparable passenger count to Fire Heroes' Day half the globe over. Thankfully this let the four-strong group keep to themselves and just enjoy the view (sans Rebecca who opted to curl up, head on Shouri's lap to forget she existed until they got there).

"There's a lot of islands," Taika noted, seeing the little spits of land all around them as the boat coasted through the clear waters.

"This is one of the three Grand Archipelagos of Lybertera, known as the Seirra Islands. A lot of these islands have decent-sized populations," explained the Maestro. "This chain is also known as the Mermaid's Playground, given how many Maestros of mermaid Resonators make their homes here due to the shallower waters."

Pacifica nodded in agreement with Shouri's assessment, though in her few visits to the chain, she hadn't ever been fortunate enough to meet any mermaids. Not until her swim in the western Trimare.

"You said there were three of them?" Taika questioned. "Yeah, the one to the west is the Soledi Riva Islands. It's kind of like a rich person's paradise, cause even though it's a cluster of islands, there's enough land for their excessive mansions. Then to the northeast of the continent is the Surgelare Islands. Due to how north they are, they're really cold and where a lot of ice users are."

Taika nodded, following along. "Paci does ice magic too. Is there a difference?" came the next question.

"They specialize in Ice magic more than the liquid part of their element," Shouri said. "It's more of a lifestyle choice, to be honest," Pacifica spoke up. "It's kinda like a choice you have to make early on as a water element," she added.

The lunar element furrowed her brow. She thought about her own element for a moment. She had aspects of it relating to shadows such as Luce Lunare or Fissare la Ombre, and then magic related to the mind such as Rilevare l'intenzione or Mente Offuscata.

"I think I get it," said Taika after thinking on it.

"A lot of elements are like that. Nature with plants and poison or Solar with light and wind. For the purposes of elemental interactions, they work the same as their parent element," Shouri further elaborated.

"Ohhh, okay. It's just a different way to cast magic?" Taika guessed. "Hey, you got it!" Shouri chuckled, tousling the vixen's hair and earning a giggle from her.

Those words stuck with Pacifica however – a different way of casting magic. Wasn't that what an ad-Lib was? Rather than using her rhythm to protect herself, she was weaponizing it, using it to control her element.

That itchy curiosity of Shouri's ran through her and made her wonder if other elements had methods to control their elements like the three of them did.

The Seirra Island chain was full of fascinating sights that the group (minus Rebecca) watched pass by. Uninhabited islands, ones with cities, others with only tiny settlements. It was a whole menagerie of different builds, shapes, and life.

However, where they stopped was the biggest of the bunch. It was almost as if a city the size of Corhiasela was floating on the open ocean; spotted first by the buildings that poked over the horizon, and finally the land that bore the weight of the infrastructure above.

"Wake up Rebby, we're here," Shouri shook his napping fox awake. "'bout time," she yawned as she finally freed his lap from its duty as her pillow.

Taika stood and stretched after having been seated for nearly the whole boat ride. She stole a peek at Pacifica, who sat still, her eyes unflinchingly fixated on the island. Her shoulders were squared as her balled-up fists trembled on her lap.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Seeing the state of the tense otter, Taika put herself between the water element and her view. "Ehi, ehi, si calmi," said the vixen. She knelt in front of her friend and unballed her fists, taking hold and interlinking her hands with Pacifica's. "Andrà bene, d'accordo?" the vixen smiled.

Pacifica nodded, though her movements were tense and jerky.

A hand of Rebecca's found its way to the otter's shoulder. "Seriously, we're not scaling a mountain and throwing hands with an immortal war general. We're gonna be fine Paci," she assured her stressed teammate.

Pacifica nodded and tried to relax, taking in deeper breaths and slowly releasing them. It would be okay. She wasn't alone. Nobody was leaving her. She wasn't weak.

Deboarding the boat was a simple affair, leaving the quartet in the largest city in the whole archipelago, Salegio City. True to the claims, there were a lot of people around. Many touristy types were wandering around, happy to be lost.

Shouri already had their route plotted on his tuner, so he ignored the calls of the vendors trying to earn a quick note from them. Had they not been on a schedule poor Taika may have had her attention pinched by the ruthless salesmen who continuously shouted to them as they broke through the crowds.

They would avoid this part of town, Shouri silently decided.

The first stop was the local car rental shop. Within minutes, their rental was confirmed and Rebecca was twirling their new set of keys around her index finger.

"No red sucks," she complained. "We're lucky they had cars at all," Shouri pointed out.

Sure enough, as soon as they hit the lot, the rental situation on the island became apparent as there were four cars left to the company's name and a whole lot of empty parking spots.

"Damn, what the heck?" Rebecca blinked, stopped mid-step at the barren lot. "It's November. Lots of people traveling south to escape the cold weather," said Shouri. "Ah."

Piling into the car with all their stuff safely stowed away in the trunk, they made their way to the first stop in any new city: the Maestro Affairs Office.

"I have a bad feeling about this bossman," Rebecca muttered as they circled the parking lot at the Central MA Office.

There wasn't a single parking spot to be found. Every space had a vehicle occupying it, all with the recognizable rental tags affixed to the rear of each car.

"Uhg, we don't have time for this shit," Shouri grumbled, checking the time. "Okay, new plan. We go meet the trainer and then we'll figure out where the hell we're sleeping," he decided. Punching in the new address, Rebecca guided them to their ultimate destination which was at the extreme southern coast of the island. They passed through the various districts that made up the massive city, with the infrastructure of the concrete jungle changing as they crossed.

Taika had her face glued to the window as she took in every building they passed. Various touristy destinations, but also natural art made by the people who called this little spit of land home. The tropical foliage was unlike anything she had ever seen and only added to the wonder.

Her wonder faded as the upkeep on the passing buildings began to deteriorate until they were fully on the south side. Even the people seemed to have gotten as rough as the surrounding neighborhoods implied. All eyes were on their vehicle, though the fox didn't pay them any mind. She stared right back, not out of ignorance at what she was looking at, but defiance.

The distinct drop in the quality of this part of town wasn't lost on Pacifica either. With no improvements in the dilapidation, she finally mustered up the courage to speak her mind. "Sh-sho… is this the right place?" squeaked the otter.

"Of course it is," he replied without missing a beat. "If you say so." The otter lowered her head. She silently hoped Sahji wasn't messing with her on purpose and that his attention was elsewhere today.

Rebecca stopped the car upon hitting the south side beach.

"You've arrived," confirmed the navigation app.

The building before them was much larger than the structures that it towered over, and while it had taken a beating from the elements, it was still the nicest home in the area by a large margin.

"This is it," Shouri announced. He opened his door and kicked it open. "Come on girls, daylight's burning."

Taika and Rebecca were right behind their Maestro, if for nothing else but to make sure some opportunistic predator didn't get their hands on him.

Poor Pacifica took a couple of deep breaths before sliding out of the car to follow along.

By the time she caught up, Shouri was already knocking on the door. A tense minute passed before finally the door swung open.

What stood before them was a creature with a similar stature to Pacifica, from ear to tail tip – they were cut from a similar mold.

The older otter looked over the four intruders. A Maestro, a fire, a lunar, and some scared pup. "Who the fuck are you people supposed to be?" she snarled.

"I'm Shouri, I heard you're a pretty good fighter," he said simply.

The otter woman's scowl brightened to a toothy, confident grin. "Oh, rich boy wants to scrap huh?" "Not at all. I got a nice stack of notes with your name on them if you train her," he pointed to Pacifica who cowered under the attention.

And she most certainly could sense the pressure of judgment from her more tenured counterpart. Pacifica could feel the other otter's eyes scanning her entire form.

After what felt like an eternity, the elder otter spoke. "The name's Wikolia Alana, I'll hear you out, Mr. Playboy."

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