"You certainly did your research, playboy," Wikolia spoke with an amused smirk.

The five-strong group sat in Ms. Alana's expansive living room. Compared to the squalor just outside her doors, the otter lived a pretty luxurious life. She had a decently sized flatscreen television, the same make, model, and size as the ones in the MA Offices. The couch they sat on was plush, one they could sink into and sleep with ease. The interiors of the abode were frankly beautiful and well-kept. Shouri posited the exterior walls of the home carried their rough veneer as a cover.

"I specifically wanted her trained by someone who knows how to fight on their own," Shouri stated. "You sound like a real popular guy then," said the elder otter. "That's one way of putting it, yeah," agreed the Maestro.

The trainer in question eyed the lunar and fire elements in Shouri's care. She jerked her head back, remaining nestled in her recliner. "Show me what they can do."

"You sure, lady?" Rebecca grinned. For just a second, her eyes flicked up, noting the vaulted ceiling – plenty of room.

"We might break something," Taika added, though her voice was painted with more concern than her fellow fox.

"Do it," Wikolia smirked. "Things can be replaced."

Rebecca was up in an instant. "You-" she flipped and brought a flaming heel down on the seated otter. "-asked for it!"

Taika, sensing she wasn't getting out of this fired off a volley of her beads, releasing them from her rhythmic control upon being shot.

A lazy flick of Wikolia's wrist repelled both attacks.

Water constricted Rebecca's heel, not only snuffing her attack out with ease but holding her in place. As for Taika's attempt, the bulleted beads were suspended in a ball of water hovering just in front of Wikolia's head.

"Ricerca Vitale, Presto." Shouri fired off the hip.

Taika was compelled to read their seated target, her glower providing the output for their Maestro. As she did so, the tuner beeped to indicate more of the spell was unlocked.

SUMMARY (Via Ricerca Vitale) RESONATOR Wikolia SPECIES Sea Otter ELEMENT Water ATTRIBUTE Piercing RHYTHM 100% 100% STATUS Ready

It was quite impressive to the Maestro. All of that, and Wikolia's rhythm hadn't budged even a tenth of a percentage point – his research had been spot on. However, what was more interesting was her total lack of a Maestro line in the output. He'd have to have Taika try the spell in Allegro later to see what new information would be unlocked with the new level.

"My my, what kind of people do you have after you that they're so precise with their attacks?" asked the otter of the Maestro.

"Let's just say I disagreed with someone and they had friends," Shouri replied, returning the black tuner to his waist.

Rebecca was tossed back, the water snaking back into the cup that it was drawn from. The fire element grumbled something under her breath and returned to the couch with the rest of the family.

Pacifica stared in wide-eyed awe. She could do that? Wikolia made it look effortless, just a simple wave of her hand and water obeyed her like a Resonator to their Maestro. It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

Taika yanked her beads back from their entrapment. As the little obsidian pearls returned to her neck there was something that was bothering the telekinetic. Her gaze studied Rebecca's soaked ankle as she plopped down on the couch. "How can you keep control of your water with strong rhythm around?" wondered the lunar fox.

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"Water is a better conductor of rhythm than mind magic," Wikolia had the response ready. "Ah, Volontà Estesa utilizes the user's brainwaves as a medium to conduct rhythm, so it's far easier to disrupt than water. Though the tradeoff is Taika always has brainwaves to use, where you need to have water in order to use yours," Shouri voiced his realization.

"You knowledge types, I swear," Wikolia mumbled, shaking her head. "Sounds about right, though, that's why I live on the beach, no shortage of water here," said the elder otter.

There was a small silence of understanding before the trainer spoke again.

"I'll train your whelp, playboy. But let's talk how you're gonna compensate me for my time." "Name your price," Shouri replied off the cuff.

"Money ain't worth shit to me, I got enough of that to go around. Nah, you three are gonna take care of my errands while I whip your girl into shape." The predatory grin that Wikolia wore only made Pacifica further question what in the world Shouri had signed them up for.

"Hey, now we're talking. We happen to be experts in odd jobs," Shouri grinned back.

Their Maestro had grown quite bold over the past few months, the girls realized. Though Taika knew it was mostly her fault. She was his drug and his high was motivation – a dangerous combination.

Pacifica had been left all alone with the carnivorous otter. Shouri, Taika, and Rebecca had been sent away to gather groceries for their stay.

"You're a right mess you know that?" Wikolia scoffed suddenly. "Huh?" Pacifica uttered, trying to make herself smaller than she appeared.

"You've been having problems with water recently, haven'tcha?" asked the trainer. "Y-yeah… I might have exploded a showerhead this morning," Pacifica quietly admitted. "Figured as much. If I wasn't around this place woulda been soaked." "Huh?" "I could feel you grabbing at the water all around. It's like a safety blanket to you, right?"

Guilty as charged. Pacifica averted her gaze. "It is."

"Well let's break you of that," said Wikolia. "Yes ma'am," Pacifica replied in kind.

Wikolia shook her head. "None of that. While you're here, you're part of my crew – you're to refer to me as Captain Wik, understood?" Her glare could whip the waves themselves into shape.

Pacifica stood no chance against such a glower. "Yes cap'n…" mumbled the meek otter, her eyes desperately seeking refuge anywhere except her teacher.

"I can't hear you!" shouted the older otter. "Yes, Captain Wik!!" "Good, now let's get you properly equipped for this."

The poor young otter followed her older counterpart through her home, head down as the homeowner gathered up the supplies for whatever she was going to ask Pacifica to do.

Finally, a suit was shoved into her arms. "Get changing," the captain ordered, directing her protégé into a bathroom.

And then Pacifica found herself alone with a wetsuit. She sighed and got to disrobing. The wetsuit was form-fitting as expected. She had seen Maestros don them before for deep sea diving, but she never thought she would be wearing one herself. What really irked her about the design was that it was made specifically for an otter, the tail hole was the perfect diameter to allow hers to slip through and hold snugly without being uncomfortable.

However, there was a sudden chill that permeated her soul.

"Huh?" "Paci, are you okay?" Shouri's voice rang in her head with alarm. "I'm fine, Sho. Captain Wik made me put a wetsuit on and my rhythm felt weird," Pacifica replied, hoping he had turned on the listening function.

Which he confirmed as such with a reply only a few seconds later. "Okay, we felt you vanish suddenly and I wanted to make sure you were okay." "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Taika says Sarayul did something similar to her, so it must be part of the process to control your rhythm better," Shouri's informative voice brought her comfort. "Makes sense." She cracked a smile, glad for his presence in her mind.

"We're going back to shopping, have fun." Her smile faded as the safety of her Maestro's words left her. "I'll try," she said, unsure if he even heard her.

And then she was alone again. This didn't last long as only seconds later there was a rap at the door. "It doesn't take that long to put on a wetsuit, hurry up!" "Yes, Captain Wik!"

Pacifica had plenty of fond memories of riding in boats. With her dad, with her friends. She loved water, and she loved her friends and family.

That being said, this particular outing would not be going into her cherished box of memories. The boat didn't go far out to sea, they could still see the beach from where they had driven out to.

"This exercise is pretty simple, whelp," Captain Wik said, drawing the young otter's attention. "Swim to shore," she said.

"Huh? I don't understand." Pacifica raised a brow. "Pretty easy right?" The smirk that Wikolia wore was wrought with ill intent, and Pacifica's instincts were screaming at her that this was a trap.

Unfortunately, they were too late as the otter was shoved into the waves and sank like a rock. The first thing that she noticed upon dropping below the surface was her abilities were all totally negated. She couldn't breathe and swimming had suddenly become extremely difficult.

What was going on?!

The fog of her weak stave had settled in and made figuring out her current predicament impossible.

Was she about to drown?! A drowned otter?! Whoever heard of such a thing?!

Her lungs burned, pushed, and demanded she breathed, but all around her was the cruel chill of the Sierra Strait which refused to release its prisoner. Pacifica kicked and flailed with her arms and legs, desperately trying to remember her forms, but it was to no avail, she couldn't get her brain to work and her limbs refused to cooperate.

The bubbles that escaped her mouth were the last calls of desperation as she continued to sink further and further into the abyss.

She couldn't be certain what Captain Wik was expecting of her from this exercise. If there was supposed to be some grand awakening it wasn't happening. Only panic compounded by more panic.

Pacifica loved water, but this water was trying to kill her. As she fell further her strength continued to desert her as the world dimmed more and more. In her fleeting consciousness, all she could think about were the three she loved. Shouri, Taika, Rebecca… what would they think when they found out she drowned?

They would be sad surely? Surely…

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