BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

  “NNNNRGH!” Pacifica found her way under the pillows as the annoying alarm plagued the room.

  Rebecca was on alarm slayer duty as she silenced the annoyance. “Come on Sho, we gotta get up,” she said while suppressing a yawn.

  “Yeah yeah…” The boy rose, much to the vexation of Taika and Pacifica. “Sleep in girls, we’ll be back,” he told them.

  The remaining pair huddled together under the covers while Rebecca and Shouri changed into their day clothes. They left their room and locked the door behind them, catching Mila and Vince as they did so.

  “Morning.” Shouri failed his fight against his yawn and allowed it to slip out.

  “Morning Shouri,” Vince greeted the guildmaster. “You’re up early,” he noted.

  “Picking up Emily from the airport. What about you two?” Shouri turned Vince’s observation back on him.

  Mila patted her Maestro’s back, causing him to stumble forward from the rough treatment. “Beansprout needs to work on his stamina, so we’re taking a jog,” said the cat. She suddenly pointed at the sky. “Could feel the rain in my tail, so we’re getting it done early before it starts,” she added.

  Shouri and Rebecca looked skyward; even with the slight glow of morning not being in full effect, it was definitely there. Grey layers of nimbostratus clouds blanketed the sky, informing the cat’s intuition as the truth. A sniff of the light breeze carried the distinct scent of petrichor.

  “Uhg, gonna have to drive in that,” Rebecca groused wearing a grimace.

  “We’ll just take it slow Rebby, it’ll be okay,” assured Shouri.

  “Yeah, but still.”

  He could feel her anxiety start to build, so he placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can drive if you want,” he offered.

  “No no, I’ll do it, can’t avoid it forever,” said the fox.

  “Alright, but if you want to stop and switch-”

  “I’ll be fine Sho, I promise.”

  Vince smiled warmly at the pair. “Come on Mila, let’s get going.”

  “Stay dry,” Mila said as her parting words.

  “That’s the plan!” Shouri called out to the departing duo.

  The two licensed drivers made their way to their car and got in. “They seem close,” said Rebecca as she started the vehicle.

  “Yeah, I’m so glad they’re working out.” Shouri’s smile was genuine, the pain had left his heart from what the vixen could feel.

  “You were worried?” questioned the fox.

  “Of course. I didn’t want them to be a bad match and hate each other. I do care about both of them, I just wanted them to be happy.”

  Rebecca couldn’t help the grin. “Let’s go get the princess,” she declared, flicking the car into gear.

  Thankfully the trip to the airport was pretty uneventful. Despite the grey clouds that threatened their peaceful trip, it held its payload.

  “I’m gonna end up memorizing the route at this rate,” Rebecca noted as they waited in line at the arrival terminal.

  “Not a bad thing. We live here now, so it’ll be good to know our way around town without relying on a map,” Shouri retorted.

  “Yeah yeah.” Rebecca kept her attention on the line of vehicles before them.

  Eventually, they made their way through the Wednesday morning airport traffic and found themselves looking around for Emily. Soot being as tall as he stood was the landmark the two looked for. But rather than the other fire element, Rebecca spotted the Lunar element of the other party.

  Emily also noticed the car and rushed over, two of her three Resonators in tow. Shouri motioned to the trunk, which Rebecca popped open. Luggage deposited and safely stowed away, the three travelers piled into the back – Albarich behind the driver’s seat, Ritika behind the passenger, and Emily in between her two Resonators.

  “Where’s Soot?” asked Shouri.

  “Right here!” Ritika held up a warm red gemstone. “He suggested it to save on airfare,” she clarified.

  “Ah.” Shouri and Rebecca nodded in understanding.

  With that concern cleared up, the trip to the guild hall could begin properly.

  “Kinda crazy to think we have a home now,” Albarich commented.

  “Well, the palace was nice,” Ritika chimed in.

  “I’m just glad we only got a little bit of grief over being gone for a year,” Emily chuckled.

  “How did all of that go with your parents by the way?” asked Shouri, knowing full well the conversation was started on that note purposefully.

  “Hrm…” He didn’t like the way Emily had hummed. The princess looked Shouri in the eyes through the rearview mirror. “They passed off my concern to Seat Dì èr, then we got passed to Seat ?a??ha, then Seat Zw?lftel then back to Seat Dì èr who tried to start the circle all over again,” she explained.

  “Uhhh…” Shouri blinked.

  “Oh right,” Emily tapped her head with her fist. “Under the king and queen of Luna is their court: the Fourteen’s Court. They’re twenty-eight strong consisting of a Maestro and Resonator each. Like the king and queen, they’re picked from the highest potential rhythm users of their generation upon birth,” she recited from her schooling.

  “Seat Dì èr is over public safety, Seat ?a??ha is Melomorphian Resources, and Seat Zw?lftel heads the criminal justice departments,” she counted off her fingers as she spoke. “They’re the second, sixth, and twelfth seats respectively,” she added.

  Shouri grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. “So basically, they gave you the runaround?” he summed up succinctly.

  “Worse, they wasted our goddamn time,” Albarich huffed.

  “At least they were nice when they told us it wasn’t their problem?” Ritika offered.

  “It’s fine! At least I got to show you all my home and introduce you to my parents,” beamed the Maestro, holding both her Resonator’s hands (and touching Soot’s gemstone with her pinky finger).

  “How were they by the way?” asked Shouri.

  “Mom and Dad send their regards,” giggled Emily.

  “Fat lotta good that’ll do,” the guildmaster rolled his eyes.

  “They did say if things don’t work out down here, you and your Resonators are welcome on Luna,” she added.

  Shouri hummed in thought. “Gonna keep that one in my back pocket,” he decided.

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  “Thought you’d enjoy the get out of jail free card,” Emily said through her coy grin.

  “This is it?” Emily asked.

  “Yeah, it’s-” Shouri was cut off, however.

  “PERFECT!” exclaimed the princess.

  Emily ran from the car to the quaint little motel they had converted into their guild hall. “It’s ours! It’s home!” She threw her hands up as if to thank the sky for this blessing.

  It returned the elation with a rumble of thunder.

  “Maybe we should get inside before we need to dry our clothes, Princess,” Albarich grumbled, pushing his Maestro towards the safety of cover.

  The girl pivoted around her dragon’s grasp, rushing back out. “Wait wait! Soot! We need to make Soot’s body!”

  Shouri and Rebecca had been watching the commotion with mild amusement, however upon mentioning the construction of the golem in Emily’s care, Shouri took keen interest in the process.

  The first part of the procedure was locating a suitable patch of dirt to use. Thankfully there were some nice patches of raw ground with no grassy invaders. The cat took a knee and scooped up a handful of dirt. Her eyes widened.

  “Is it good?” inquired Emily.

  “No, it’s amazing!” Ritika exclaimed looking around.

  “What’s up?” Shouri asked, deciding to join the group.

  “This place is full of clay, it’ll be super easy to make Soot bodies with this,” the cat told the curious Maestros. Ritika set Soot’s gem on the ground, forcing it down with a gentle wiggle until it was half buried.

  “Really? Does sand not work well?” Shouri questioned.

  “Sand works fine, but depending on the type of soil you make their bodies with, it alters their build. I’ve been making Soot’s bodies with sand for the years I’ve known him because that’s all we had in the desert. It makes him fast and gives his attacks a little sting, but clay works the best – it makes their fire magic work better,” Ritika explained as she made a Melomorphic outline in the clay.

  “Purpose Build Molding,” Rebecca suddenly spoke.

  “Huh?” Ritika looked up.

  “Clay Golem’s species trait, like how you have Felid Step and I have Canid Sense. Their trait changes their abilities based on how their bodies are constructed,” explained the fox.

  “Oh! You’ve done a bit of reading!” Ritika realized.

  “Yeah, blame this guy’s itchy rhythm,” Rebecca chuckled, elbowing her Maestro. He rolled his eyes but smirked all the same.

  With the outline made, Ritika placed her hands at the feet of the proposed structure. “I’m ready, Emmy,” the cat breathed out.

  Emily too, had taken a knee opposite of her earth element. Ritika’s brown tuner was forced into the ground, pinned by the Maestro. “La Forma Della Terra, Lento Tutti,” she chanted, her eyes closed.

  Rebecca twitched as they watched the spectacle.

  “Lot of rhythm?” asked Shouri.

  “A lot a lot,” she nodded in the affirmative.

  The spell called wasn’t the one Shouri had expected though. La Forma Della Terra was an earth element utility spell – one which restored disrupted terrain to its original form. The usage of the Tutti modifier was interesting, as that was the command that changed spells cast on one’s self to be cast on a target.

  They watched as the red gemstone was swallowed by the reddish clay and a body began to form. Within a matter of minutes, Soot had regained his fully bipedal body and Emily was handing him his clothes to dress himself.

  “How does it feel big guy?” asked Ritika.

  After a moment of contemplation, the golem responded by pressing two fingers just under his eye before fanning them out and pressing his hand against his chest.

  Emily furrowed her brow, trying to remember what that sign meant, but was beaten to the punch.

  “Nostalgic,” said Rebecca.

  The two other girls stared at the fiery vixen for a moment before looking to Soot for confirmation. He nodded to corroborate the fox’s translation.

  “I guess the species is clay golem for a reason,” Emily said with a shrug and smile.

  “Very true, let’s get inside before we have to dry off,” Ritika chimed in, thankful the angry sky allowed them to finish their task in peace.

  “Nice office we got,” Emily said, reclining in their new office chair.

  The two guild masters were in the office while their Resonators relaxed in their respective rooms. The rain had started, giving them a nice backing track to their conversation.

  “Yeah, we can trade off running things and doing all the paperwork in case one of us wants to take time off or gets sick or whatever,” Shouri told her.

  She sat up, looking over the documents Shouri had pulled up on the computer. “Sounds good to me.” The Luna native eyed the sleek new laptop. “When do I get one?” she said with a coy grin.

  “When our finances don’t suck,” Shouri grumbled. “I usually just leave this one in here; y’know, leave work at work kind of thing,” he added.

  “Makes sense, makes sense.” Emily nodded.

  The two sat in silence for a bit, a rumble of thunder reminding them of the inclement weather just outside their humble abode.

  “Oh, what’s the address here?” Emily asked, pulling Albarich’s black tuner from her side.

  “Why’s that?” Shouri questioned back.

  “Mom and Dad said they’d send my baby here,” the girl beamed.

  “Your-” Shouri cut himself off. “You know what, I’ll find out. It’s 6495 E Jan Vermeer Drive, Dalliva, Lybertera.”

  Emily quickly punched the address into her tuner and the message was sent away. “There we go,” she sang, replacing the device at her side.

  “So, what do you wanna do tonight?” asked Shouri

  “We could go hunting,” she suggested.

  “Didn’t you do the New Draxgow hunt thing?”

  “Yeah, but it’s more fun with friends.”

  “I suppose.”

  “There is still the matter of who we take with us. Your car isn’t too big,” Emily noted.

  “Yeah, thinking we might need to trade this one in and grab a mini-van or something. Especially since we’re getting Mr. Klein tomorrow afternoon,” Shouri groaned.

  The two young guildmasters exhaled sharply.

  “This is a lot of work,” spoke Emily.

  “Welcome to the funhouse sister,” complained the brunet.