The next couple of days passed in relative peace.

Which became increasingly alarming to Shouri.

"Something's wrong," said the guildmaster to himself as he stepped into his office on the seventeenth of November.

"Why do you say that?" asked Taika. "Maybe because it's the Triumph today," Rebecca pointed out.

Shouri shook his head. "No, it's not because of that consumerist fuck fest," he asserted.

"Wait, what's 'the Triumph'?" asked Taika. "Only the best thing ever!" Pacifica exclaimed, taking hold of her fellow Resonator's shoulders. "Sales Taika! Sales!"

"Weird way to spell hell," Shouri grumbled, sitting at his desk and flipping open the guild laptop. "Yeah, you can't pay me to go near a store today," Rebecca chimed in.

"So what is it?" Taika asked again, her inquiry having gone thoroughly unanswered.

"Sage Kitori's holiday," Rebecca started. "Companies use it as an excuse to do massive sales before the end of the year so they can try to turn a profit one more time," Shouri added. "The sales are so good!" Pacifica cried out.

"Paci, have you ever looked at the sales?" Shouri asked. "Yes! They're good! Like 70% off good!" she continued her parade.

Shouri sighed and flipped the laptop around for her to see. There were a few graphs that showed an up and down trend set to the timescale of a year. "Most companies start gently creeping their prices up on anticipated consumer goods prior to the Triumph. It's so slow and methodical, most non-savvy consumers don't notice they could have gotten this same price like six months prior."

"Yes, but some are actually good deals," Pacifica pointed out. "True, some items are sold at a loss as the hope is to get you into the door to buy four more normal price items disguised as 'great bargains' so they can justify the slight loss on the hot ticket item that got you to come in the first place," he raised.

"Either way, it's all good fun," Pacifica shrugged. "Yeah, as long as you spend within your means," Shouri agreed. "But most people don't do that," they spoke in tandem.

"Anyway, I already shopped around for my water bottle, can I buy it? It's in our Atmoni cart," Pacifica requested.

"Sure sure." Shouri gave his approval with a wave of his hand and a slide of the tuner across the desk. "Thank you~" sang the otter as she took her tuner and plopped down in a chair to make the purchase.

"Oh yeah, what is wrong with today?" Taika asked, looping all the way back around to the conversation that started the whole diatribe about the Triumph.

"Hm?" Shouri furrowed his brows, then it clicked. "Right! So, Vince has been really quiet since Thursday night. Ems and I are pretty worried," he told his trio.

"He seemed sad when we went home after that hunt," Taika recalled. "Yeah, we think Zephyr did or said something that set him off," said Shouri. "Sounds about right. That girl doesn't have a filter," Rebecca scoffed.

After staring blankly at the screen for a moment, Shouri shut the computer and stood. "Alright, lets go check on him, I'm done waiting," the Maestro decided.

It was a short walk down to Vince's room. Unfortunately for a certain otter, the weather was inhospitable (for her). An icy fog hung in the air, and she trembled hard even wearing her thick winter clothes. As they walked, they passed the only other person out at the moment, Kaira, who didn't acknowledge them, as she walked in the opposite direction with a basket full of laundry.

"It's not supposed to get any warmer than this today," Rebecca noted, casting a gaze back at her fellow Resonator. "I hate winter!" Pacifica cried out. "You and me both girl," Rebecca chuckled.

Shouri was thankful he shared Rebecca's cold resistance – which allowed him to forego traditional winter clothing in favor of just continuing to wear his usual green jacket.

Taika wasn't bothered by the cold either, even though her jacket was much thinner than Shouri's, and she lacked that temperature protection afforded by Rebecca. Perhaps it was a by-product of her being raised in a cold region like northern Unis-Résonne?

His train of thought stopped at the station when they reached Vince's room. He took a deep breath and gently exhaled before raising his fist and gently rapping the door.

Rebecca and Taika's ears twitched, and the two vixens exchanged a perplexed expression.

Before Shouri could open the door, a flustered Vince answered. "Sh-shouri! Hi! What's up?" he asked, his eyes darting across the four guests.

Shouri narrowed his gaze, slowly allowing himself to drift to Pacifica. The otter was shooting Vince a stare that said "what are you doing?" The Maestro's judgmental stare slowly returned to his younger counterpart, who was crumbling under the scrutiny.

"I er… uh… well. I… you see…"

SLAM

Shouri sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "That's not a good way to convince me you're not up to something!" the guild master shouted. Though his cry was met with silence.

"Taika, Rilevare l'intenzione, Lento," Shouri recited. "Three," Taika confirmed. Shouri nodded. "That's what I thought." He took in a breath. "Vince, open up!"

The door creaked open again, the guilty Maestro greeting them. "You're looking for Zephyr, aren't you?" he asked meekly.

The guildmaster smirked. "Actually no, but that does answer my next question."

The young Maestro paled, attempting to slide back into his room. Shouri grabbed the door. "Hold on," he said. "Can we talk?"

Vince allowed Shouri and his entourage into the room. Mila was sitting on the bed, notably alone. She knew better and just kept a watchful eye on her friend and his Resonators.

"Where is she?" Shouri asked. "Why whoever do you mean?" Vince chuckled coyly, averting his gaze. "Vince, let's cut the pretense, Taika is right here," he motioned to the lunar fox, who waved.

Zephyr poked her head out of Vince's jacket. "Looking for little ol' me?" asked the fairy.

"In a sense. I just want to know what's going on. You both have been shut up here for the last couple of days," Shouri began. "Just cut the playing around and make it official already," Rebecca piped up, shaking her head.

"But-!" the two shouted. He looked down and she looked up as they had tried to protest in unison.

Shouri just made a gesture at them, his suspicions confirmed.

"Okay, we'll talk." Vince sat in the chair closest to him. Zephyr hopped from her perch onto the table, sitting on the edge.

"So, what even happened?" Shouri began.

"Well… she came with us on the hunt a few days ago. When you asked us to go save that other Maestro, Mila got a bit too far from me – I didn't keep pace with her, and some Scherzando jumped us."

"Vince-!" Mila tried to argue, but he motioned for her to stay quiet. "Please Mils," he urged. She reluctantly nodded, but clearly wasn't a fan of his interpretation of the events.

Vince stole a glance at the fairy who stared back at him before he continued. "I felt her light. I'm not sure why, but I just started calling solar spells. I… had practiced them so much it was just muscle memory to call them. She did what I asked without arguing, and we took care of the Scherzando."

"And you remembered Cecil?" Shouri guessed.

Zephyr looked to Shouri. The surprise on her face spoke volumes.

"You haven't told her about Cecil," Pacifica spoke up. He shook his head. "Can I?" asked Shouri. "I understand how you feel. I went through the same thing with the girls and Mila," he told the younger Maestro. "It's hard, right?"

Vince nodded ruefully, the gravity of the situation pulling his gaze down.

Pacifica looked to Mila, who was taken aback. A complicated mess of emotions swirled in the fire cat, but she couldn't utter a word.

"Mila, can you take Vince on a walk?" Shouri requested. The cat went to stand, but she stayed put upon seeing her Maestro shake his head. "No, I'll stay here. I need to hear this too," though he said this, Vince refused to tear his line of sight from the ground.

Shouri confirmed with Pacifica, who nodded in response and motioned for him to start. The Maestro took a breath and explained the entire situation with Cecil. How Vince got him under suspicious circumstances, Feroce, and ultimately the events of the night where Cecil lost his life.

"The man responsible is now behind bars – thanks in part to Vince," was how Shouri concluded the tale.

The room was silent.

Zephyr pushed herself off the table and fluttered to Vince. She stretched her arms out, cracking her knuckles as she did so, before getting right in the boy's face and smacking him. She was the size of a toy though, so it didn't do much damage.

"Zephyr?" Vince asked. "That's it? That's what you were worried about?" she asked. "Man up! You want me? Make me yours!" she barked.

The boy just blinked, baffled at the response.

"A girl wants you and you're letting an old flame get in the way of that? Take me!" came the passioned shout. "Make me yours!" she repeated. "Show me a real Maestro!" the fairy demanded.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"I just wanted to-" though his protest was cut off by the girl eight times smaller than him. "I like you! Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? Give me your answer!" she barked. The fairy panted hard, the rhythm dust fluttering from her wings glowed an intense yellow, almost snapping in the air from the intensity.

Vince sighed, his expression hardened. "I'm a member of PTRS," he spoke with sudden authority. "Our mission is to make sure Resonators in our care end up with the right Maestro. I spent time with you to make sure I understood who you were first," he stated.

Zephyr gulped; her hands pressed against her chest, heart racing underneath.

The young Maestro looked up to his guildmaster, who gave one short nod of approval. He then confirmed the same with Mila, who followed Shouri's lead – one short nod was all that was needed.

"Zephyr, can I be your Maestro?" "Were you not listening? Of course, you big dummy!" She flew over and hugged him by the side of his neck.

The audience of five clapped.

"Finally," Mila sighed and joined the group "'bout time," Rebecca chuckled. "Glad it went well," Pacifica added. "Evviva!" Taika cheered.

"Well, there's only one thing to do – let's make this official," Shouri offered.

As Shouri's group filed out, that gave Vince and his now two Resonators a moment to be alone.

"Thank you both, I don't deserve two wonderful people like you-"

THWACK SMACK

"Enough of that pity shit." Mila pulled her fist away from his arm. "Yeah, if you're with us, you're gonna shine, whether you want to or not," Zephyr said with a smirk, shaking out her hand.

Vince exhaled and smiled. "Right, let's go."

The car arrived at the West Dalliva MA Office a little before noon. As soon as Shouri put the car into park, the rear doors swung open, allowing the four young adults (plus Zephyr) crammed in the back to spill out. Shouri and Pacifica had the luxury of riding shotgun, the decision made that there just wasn't enough room for Pacifica's tail in the back.

"That is going to SUCK on the way back," Rebecca groused, rubbing her crushed hip. "I keep telling you, we need a guild van for shit like this," said Shouri, getting out of the car himself. "Fine, I can deal with it," Rebecca gave into her future driving endeavors being less sporty. Shouri tousled the vixen's hair, earning tail wag despite the pout on her face.

"I dunno what the problem is, the ride was fine," Zephyr tittered. "She can fly back." Rebecca pointed at the fairy with contempt, who stuck her tongue out in protest.

"This is going to be a disaster," Shouri already slumped with exhaustion. "Why's that?" asked Pacifica. "We're walking into an MA Office with a fairy of all things. This is not going to go well," he motioned for the group to follow. "Couldn't we hide Zephyr until its time to get her chipped?" asked Taika, catching up with the two.

"We could, but they're not going to do it; or more likely she wouldn't listen." He threw a thumb back at the trio of Vince, Mila, and Zephyr, who were obliviously chatting away as they trailed along.

As the seven strong group crossed into the MA Office, Zephyr took the initiative to sit on Vince's shoulder, so she was at least in physical contact with her Maestro in case someone decided to get grabby.

A large group like theirs entering wasn't uncommon, so they didn't earn too many curious eyes on them. Even so, the people that did look over at the group didn't notice the tiny fairy sitting on Vince's shoulder – as far as they were concerned, a group of six entered, not seven.

"Good afternoon and welcome to the West Dalliva Maestro Affairs Office. How can we help you today?" asked the attendant with all the pep and cheer that they had come to expect of the MA Office employees.

Before Vince could make the request, Shouri spoke first. "I'm Shouri Tomoshibi, guildmaster of Pruned Trees Re-Sprout. My guild member, Vince Rayburn needs a new Resonator registered to him," Shouri stated. He briefly wished he had swapped to his guildmaster jacket to make the request look more official, but ultimately decided the extra attention wasn't worth it – especially with what was to come.

The Maestro attendant looked to her Resonator counterpart who manned the front desk with her before addressing the guild before them.

"Right, Mr. Tomoshibi, it's the standard process regardless of guild status or not," the attendant reached under the counter and pulled out a tablet, sliding it across the counter for them to claim. "Mr. Rayburn will need to fill out the form as usual and-" she trailed off. It had been at that moment that the attendant's eyes fell on the tiny girl sitting on Vince's shoulder. Zephyr waved, smiling brightly.

The woman took a breath. "Oh," she let out. "Pardon me please." Both attendants abandoned the front counter.

Such a strange display now earned curiosity of the other Maestros and their Resonators in the lobby. Mila and Shouri's trio circled around Vince, attempting to body block any curious looky-loos. Thankfully Zephyr's tiny frame made the task easy.

"Maybe you should go in the pocket?" Vince whispered to the fairy. "Hell no! I'm showing you off! What if another fairy sees you? I can't let them think you're free real estate," Zephyr protested. "Somehow I doubt that's going to be a problem," Vince said through a sigh, but let her do what she wanted regardless.

Rather than the attendants returning to the desk, a new figure emerged from the back. They carried a certain dignity that screamed upper management to the group – dressed in a sharp suit and wielding a calm demeanor, they locked eyes with the fairy and nodded shortly.

"Pruned Trees Re-Sprout, please follow me," they spoke, motioning to the back offices to the left of the counter.

"For all of our sanity, please call in advance before bringing a mirage class Resonator for registration. We can make accommodations to have the process done at your guild hall or home," the manager told the group of seven who sat around a large conference table.

"Right, didn't know there'd be an issue with that," Shouri mumbled. He figured there would be issues involved with the public, but decided fighting his way in and out of the office was a sound enough plan. Perhaps his Resonators were rubbing off on him a bit too much.

"What's even the problem, anyway?" asked Mila, ignoring common decency by having her feet kicked up on the table.

The office manager ignored this transgression and addressed the cat's question. "Mirage classes are extraordinarily rare. If anyone had spotted her, there would have been quite a rush to see her – especially when it comes to fairies."

"I am pretty awesome," Zephyr boasted. "Not now," Vince tried to hush her. She pouted but complied with the request, for the moment.

The manager continued. "That does bring us to the second problem – we do not have the equipment or the personnel on staff to handle this registration."

A moment of stunned silence fell across the table.

"Wait what?" Shouri uttered. "What do you mean?" Pacifica asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Look at her physiology. A standard issue needle could seriously injure her. The equipment needed for fairy registrations is extremely rare due to the relative scarcity around the species as a whole. As much as I would like to foster a good relationship with the only guild in our city, I would not feel right trying to blunder our way through a delicate procedure."

Shouri took in several deep breaths, centering and calming himself – what they were saying was honest and very well considered. He was frustrated, yes; but that wasn't their fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. This was a weird situation they were in.

He finally noticed both Pacifica and Taika had taken hold of one of his hands each. "Thanks," he whispered to the two, who squeezed their respective hands.

"Thank you for at least telling us that much. Do you know who might have the equipment?" Shouri asked.

A sad shake of the manager's head was the answer Shouri expected. "You might have some luck in the guild network however – there is a lot of specialized talent that exists there."

The mention of the guild network as a whole gave the young guildmaster an idea. "Alright, I'll look into that, thanks."

"My pleasure. We'll take one of the service exits out. Follow me."

"Now what?" asked Zephyr, breaking the silence of the car trip back home. She sat on Vince's leg, reclined back against his gut.

"I got a couple of ideas," Shouri said. "Elijah might have contacts through the Klein Foundation. Or failing that we can take the manager's suggestion and see if there's anyone qualified in the guild network," he laid out his thoughts for the car.

"Cheryth, right?" Pacifica spoke up. "Yeah. Make her earn whatever paycheck she gets," said Shouri.

"So complicated," Zephyr sighed. "It'll be okay," Vince said gently patting the fairy's head with a single finger. "Shouri will figure it out, give him time. Dude gets frustrated when he can't solve a problem," Mila added as extra assurance.

"What was that back there?" said Shouri, tilting the rearview mirror back to glare at the trio.

"Nothing!" they yelped in tandem.

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